if  J  ^r*'  ff 


f 


mgeio 


WMim 


'■Ir 


if  lis 


G.CAMPBELL  MORGAN 


iiii 


wmm 


iililii! 

i  1  il 
iiiSi  ;i  ill 


lilLin. 


ill!  lllli 


i  i 


im 


iiijiji 


m 
m 


llil 


^•'^'■'.tl  s^^ 


BS  2825  .M66 

Morgan,  G.  Campbell  1863- 

1945. 
A  first  century  message  to 


■♦"  "T*:^  -r^-t-  -I  <:i-4-Vi    ^  t^  -r^  -t-it  ■T'  -XT 


(J 


A  FIRST  CENTURY  MESSAGE 

TO 

TWENTIETH  CENTURY    CHRISTIANS 


^v\^  o  r  k  s    by   g. 
Campbell  IVJIorgan 


A  FlBST  CKNTtTBXMKS- 
SAGKTO  TWEXTIKTH 
CEafTTTBY   CHBISXIAIfS. 

Addrbssbs  upon  "The 
Seven  Churches  o  f 
Asia."    Cloth,  net  ^i.oo 

The  Spihit  op  God. 

izmo,  cloth,  $1.25. 

God's  Methods  with 
Man. 

In    Time— Past,  Pres- 
ent AND  Future. 
With  colored  chart, 
izmo,  paper,  50  cents. 
Cloth,  $1.00. 

TVHEHEiif  Have  We 
Bobbed  God? 

Malachi's  Message  to 
THE  Men  of  To-Day. 
izmo,  cloth,  75  cents. 

God's  Pebfect 
Wii-i.. 

i6mo,  cloth,  50  cents  net. 

Life  Pbobi^ems. 

Little  Books  Series. 
Long  i6mo,  Jo  cents. 


The  TenICommaxd- 

MEXTS. 

Studies  in  the  Law  of 

Moses  and  the  Law  of 

Christ. 

izmo,  cloth,  50  cents  net. 


D18CIBXE8HIP. 

Little    Books    Series, 
Long  i6mo,  cloth,  50c. 


The  Hiddex  Teabs 
AT  Nazabeth. 

Quiet  Hour  Series. 
l8mo,  cloth,  25  cents. 


The  Tbtje  Estimate 

OP  lilPE. 

izmo,  paper,  15  cents. 
Cloth,  30  cents  net. 


**Ai.i,  Thixgs  New" 

A    Message     to     New 

Converts. 

i6nio,  paper,  10  cents  net. 


Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

NEW  TOBH;  CHICAGO  TOBONTO 


A  First  Century  Message 

to 

Twentieth  Century  Christians 


Addresses  based  upon  the 
Letters  to  the  Seven  Churches  of  Asia 


By         / 
G.  Campbell  Morgan 


New  York      Chicago      Toronto 

FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 

London   l^  Edinburgh 


(THIRD  EDITION.) 


Copyright  1902 

BY 

FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 
(August) 


CONTENTS 


I. 

Introductory      

page: 

7 

II. 

The  Vision  and  the  Voice     . 

15 

III. 

The  Ephesus  Letter  .     .     , 

31 

IV. 

The  Smyrna  Letter    .     .     . 

57 

V. 

The  Pergamum  Letter    . 

.       83 

VI. 

The  Thyatira  Letter  .     . 

.     Ill 

VII. 

The  Sardis  Letter  .     .     . 

.     135 

VIII. 

The  Philadelphia  Letter 

.     159 

IX. 

The  Loadicea  Letter  .     . 

.     185 

I 


INTRODUCTORY 

T  N  order  to  a  proper  understanding  of  the 
purpose  of  the  letters  to  the  churches  of 
Asia,  it  is  necessary  that  some  word  should  be 
spoken  concerning  the  book  in  which  they  are 
to  be  found. 

This  book  contains  the  last  messages  of 
Christ  to  men.  In  some  important  ways  it 
differs  from  any  other  in  the  Divine  Library. 
John  did  not  receive  it  by  the  inspiration  of  the 
Spirit  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  that  expression,  | 
but  directly  from  Jesus  Christ,  as  He  appeared 
to  him  while  in  exile  in  Patmos. 

The   usual   title,    "The   Revelation   of   St. 
John,  the  Divine  "  is  misleading,  as  the  open- 
ing words  of  the  book  will  show,  which  read, 
"  The  Revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  God  / 
gave  Him  to  show  unto  His  servants."     Per- 
haps no  book  has  been  more  neglected  than  this 
Revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  yet  it  the  only 
one  that  opens  with  a  distinct  and  three-fold 
blessing   pronounced,    a   blessing   first,    upon  . 
/those  who   read,   secondly,   upon  those  who  ' 
7 


8  Introductory 

hear,  thirdly,  upon  those  who  keep  the  things 
that  are  written  therein. 

There  must  be  some  deep  significance  in  this 
introductory  pronouncement,  and  because  of 
the  difficulty  of  interpretation,  the  Church  has 
no  right  to  neglect  her  Master's  last  mes- 
sage. 

Yet  while  it  is  true  that  no  book  has  been  so 
sadly  neglected,  it  is  also  true  that  around  no 
book  has  there  waged  more  persistent  contro- 
versy. So  keen  has  that  controversy  been, 
that  we  find  Christian  people  divided  into  dis- 
tinct schools  of  thought  about  it,  and  we  hear 
of  Preterist,  Presentist,  Futurist,  and  Spirit- 
ual interpretations.  These  differences  have  no 
detailed  place  in  our  present  discussion.  Our 
business  lies  only  with  the  messages  to  the 
churches.  That  we  may  see  their  place,  some 
word  must  be  said  about  the  general  character 
of  the  book. 

The  book  of  Revelation  is  not  primarily  a 
book  of  Church  truth.  It  is  a  book  of  judg- 
ment in  the  broadest  sense  of  that  word,  judg- 
ment, that  is,  as  the  method  and  government  of 
God.  It  reveals  the  consummation  of  the 
world's  history,  and  gives  a  panorama  of  God's 
final  dealings  with  the  earth.  We  find  our- 
selves largely  back  in  the  realm  of  Old  Testa- 


Introductory  9 

ment  truth.  Jehovah  is  introduced  in  language 
in  keeping  with  the  thoughts  suggested  by  that 
name  to  the  ancient  Hebrew  people,  "  Him 
which  is  and  which  was  and  which  is  to 
come."  The  Holy  Spirit  is  spoken  of,  not  as 
the  unified  personality  that  men  came  to  know 
through  the  work  of  Christ,  and  Who  appears 
in  the  Epistles  of  the  New  Testament.  He  is 
seen  rather  as  seven  Spirits,  that  is,  in  the  per- 
fection of  activity,  and  these  Spirits,  moreover, 
are  before  the  throne.  Jesus  is  the  "  faith- 
ful Witness,  the  First-born  from  the  dead,  and 
the  Ruler  of  the  kings  of  the  earth ;  "  while 
the  Church,  loved  and  loosed  from  sin,  is  a 
kingdom  of  priests,  perfected  in  their  number, 
and  save  in  the  early  chapters,  occupying  a 
place  in  glory.  Thus  God  is  revealed  as  su- 
preme in  the  government  of  the  universe,  the 
Spirit  as  the  light  and  activity  of  that  govern- 
ment, and  Jesus  as  the  faithful  Witness,  and 
as  ruling  the  kings  of  the  earth. 

The  outlook  of  Revelation  is  larger  than  the 
Church  of  Christ.  It  deals,  not  with  the  rela- 
tion of  God  as  Father  to  the  company  of  saved 
in  the  Church,  but  to  His  larger  relation  as 
King  and  Governor  of  the  whole  earth.  There 
has  been  a  great  deal  of  cloudy  thinking  and 
teaching  on  these  subjects.     Many  seem  to  im- 


lo  Introductory 

agine  that  the  Church  and  the  Kingdom  of  God 
are  one  and  the  same  thing.  The  fact  is  that 
the  Kingdom  of  God  is  infinitely  larger  than 

V  the  Church,  and  includes  that  whole  realm  over 
which  God  is  King,  and  in  which  that  King- 
ship will  finally  be  established.  To-day  the 
Church  recognizes  and  submits  to  that  King- 
ship. The  time  will  come  when  all  nations 
shall  recognize  and  submit.  The  Church  is 
an  instrument  to  that  end.  And  yet  she  is  a 
complete  entity  within  herself,  having  her  spe- 
cific vocation  in  future  ages. 

The  whole  book  of  Revelation  reveals  the 
final  stages  in  the  work  of  God  with  humanity. 
No  one  has  perfectly  understood  all  its  teach- 
ing. Its  great  principles  are  evident.  It 
shows  the  final  overthrow  of  evil,  and  the  set- 
ting up  of  the  eternal  Kingdom  of  God.  It 
moreover  teaches  us  that  that  overthrow  and 
that  setting  up  will  be  realized  through  Jesus 
the  anointed  King. 

In  all  probability  the  key  to  the  division  of 
the  book  is  to  be  found  in  the  words,  "  Write 

,  therefore  the  things  which  thou  sawest,  and  the 
things  which  are,  and  the  things  which  shall 
come  to  pass  hereafter."  This  verse  divides 
the  book,  and  marks  the  subjects  upon  which 
John  was  commissioned  by  Jesus  to  write. 


Introductory  1 1 

i.  "  The  things  which  thou  sawest." 

ii.  "  The  things  which  are." 

iii.  "The  things  which  shall  come  to  pass 
after  these." 

The  first  of  these  undoubtedly  has  reference 
to  the  vision  of  glory  that  John  looked  upon, 
the  second  to  the  condition  of  things  existent 
as  described  in  the  seven  letters  to  the  churches, 
and  the  things  "after  these"  are  the  final 
things,  the  chronicle  of  which  commences  in 
chapter  iv,  verse  I.  Let  it  be  noted  that  in 
chapter  i,  verse  19,  the  word  "hereafter"  is 
a  translation  of  the  two  words  /Aera  ravra, 
and  in  chapter  iv,  verse  i,  "  after  these  things  " 
is  a  translation  of  the  same  two  words.  Thus 
evidently  the  third  division  begins  at  the  fourth 
chapter,  and  from  there  to  the  end  we  have 
unfulfilled  prophecy.  With  this  section  of 
the  book  we  have  now  nothing  to  do.  Our 
particular  subject  is  the  second  division,  "  the 
things  which  are." 

Of  this  there  have  been  three  interpretations. 
First,  that  the  epistles  were  actually  written  to 
seven  churches  at  the  time  existing  in  Asia. 
Second,  that  the  epistles  contain  an  unfolding 
of  the  condition  of  the  Church  in  successive 
stages  of  its  history.  Third,  that  the  epistles 
give  a  picture  of  seven  conditions  of  Church 


1 2  Introductory 

life  to  be  found  continuously  in  the  history  of 
the  Church  of  Christ.  My  own  conviction  is 
that  all  these  are  true.  I  propose  however,  to 
consider  them  in  the  light  of  the  first  and  third, 
'  that  is  to  say,  as  letters  written  to  actual 
churches,  and  as  having  perpetual  application 
to  some  phase  of  Church  life.  While  there  is 
very  little  doubt  that  they  do  reveal  a  process 
in  the  history  of  the  Church,  upon  that  phase 
of  their  teaching  I  do  not  intend  to  touch. 

We  shall  first  look  at  the  vision  which  ar- 
rested John  in  the  Isle  of  Patmos,  then  at  the 
seven  epistles,  endeavouring  to  gather  their 
message  to  the  age  in  which  we  live;  so  that 
we  are  to  give  attention  to  a  first  century  mes- 
sage to  twentieth  century  Christians. 

In  dealing  with  each  of  the  epistles,  we  shall 
notice  four  distinct  matters, 
^  i.  Christ's  title. 

—  ii.  Christ's  commendation. 

—  iii.  Christ's  complaint, 
^"'iv.  Christ's  counsel. 

These  will  not  always  be  in  this  exact  order, 
for  in  some  cases  either  commendation  or  com- 
plaint is  omitted,  but  for  these  as  main  points 
of  interest  we  shall  look  in  our  studies. 


THE  VISION  AND  THE  VOICE 


"  And  I  turned  to  see  the  voice  which  spake 
with  me.  And  having  turned  I  saw  seven  golden 
lampstands;  and  in  the  midst  of  the  lampstands 
One  like  unto  a  Son  of  man,  clothed  with  a  gar- 
ment down  to  the  foot,  and  girt  about  at  the  breasts 
with  a  golden  girdle.  And  His  head  and  His  hair 
were  white  as  white  wool,  white  as  snow;  and  His 
eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire;  and  His  feet  like  unto 
burnished  brass,  as  if  it  had  been  refined  in  a  fur- 
nace; and  His  voice  as  the  voice  of  many  waters. 
And  He  had  in  His  right  hand  seven  stars:  and  out 
of  His  mouth  proceeded  a  sharp  two-edged  sword: 
and  His  countenance  was  as  the  sun  shineth  in  his 
strength." 


**  The  mystery  of  the  seven  stars  which  thou  sawest 
in  My  right  hand,  and  the  seven  golden  lampstands. 
The  seven  stars  are  the  angels  of  the  seven  churches : 
and  the  seven  lampstands  are  seven  churches."  — 
Rev.  i:  12-16,  20. 


II 

THE  VISION  AND  THE  VOICE 

"1X7 HEN  in  the  loneliness  of  Patmos  John 
heard  a  voice  behind  him,  he  "  turned  to 
see  .  .  .  and  having  turned  he  saw."  The 
vision  that  fell  upon  him  was  present  during 
all  the  messages  he  received  for  the  churches, 
lending  value  and  emphasis  to  these  messages. 
If  we  therefore  are  to  understand,  we  also  must 
see  the  vision.  Let  us  take  a  general  survey, 
note  the  first  impression  produced,  and  then 
proceed  to  a  careful  examination  of  the  central 
figure. 

"  Having  turned  he  saw  seven  golden  lamp- 
stands.  .  .  .  One  like  unto  a  Son  of  man.  .  .  . 
He  had  in  His  right  hand  seven  stars."  He 
first  beheld  seven  golden  lampstands.  "  Lamp- 
stand  "  is  a  better  translation,  and  far  more  per- 
fectly conveys  the  true  symbolism.  A  candle- 
stick presupposes  a  kind  of  light  which  is  self- 
consumptive,  (a  lampstand  presupposes  a  light 
which  may  be  perpetually  fed  by  oil,  and  in 
Scripture,  oil  is  constantly  emblematic  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.^  Of  these  lampstands  the  Master 
IS 


1 6     A  First  Century  Message 

Himself  gives  the  interpretation.  "  The  seven 
lampstands  are  seven  churches."  Thus  each 
individual  church  is  seen  as  a  centre  of  light. 

Then  "  in  the  midst  of  the  lampstands  "  he 
saw  "  One  like  unto  a  Son  of  man."  Thus 
Christ  is  seen  in  all  human  sympathy,  presid- 
ing over  the  churches  in  the  exercise  of  their 
function. 

He  moreover  notices  that  in  the  right  hand 
of  the  Son  of  man  were  seven  stars,  and  here 
again  we  have  the  interpretation  of  the  Lord, 
"  The  seven  stars  are  the  angels  of  the  seven 
churches." 

The  first  impression  produced  by  the  vision 
is  peculiar,  and  apparently  contradictory.  It 
is  evidently  a  night  scene,  as  witness  the  lamp- 
stands  and  the  stars,  and  yet  it  is  a  day  scene, 
for  behold,  the  countenance  of  the  Son  of  man 
is  "  as  the  sun  shineth  in  his  strength."  John 
beheld  as  in  a  vision,  the  Church  in  its  present 
relation  and  responsibility  to  Christ  and  the 
world.  The  night  all  around  is  the  world's 
darkness.  The  only  light  shining  upon  that 
darkness  is  that  which  comes  from  the  lamp- 
stands.  The  vision  of  Christ's  face  as  that  of 
the  sun,  is  a  revelation  of  what  He  is  to  His 
people.  To  them  it  is  day  time.  "  For  ye  are 
all  sons  of  light,  and  sons  of  the  day :  we  are 


The  Vision  and  the  Voice       1 7 

not  of  the  night,  fiof  of  darkness."  The  Church 
is  here  seen  as  the  Hght  bearer,  with  Christ  as 
unifying    Centre    and     directing    Authority. 
Christ  Himself  in  the  midst  of  the  seven  lamp-     , 
stands  creates  their  unity.     The  unity  of  the     j 
Church  consists  in  the  common  relationship  of     : 
each   church   to   the   Lord   Himself   Who   is 
present  in  the  midst. 

In  His  right  hand  He  holds  the  messengers, 
and  herein  is  revealed  the  true  position  that 
ministry  occupies  in  the  Christian  Church, 
whether  it  be  the  ministry  of  authoritative 
teaching  as  given  through  the  apostles,  the 
ministry  of  prophetic  utterance,  the  ministry 
of  evangelization,  or  that  of  the  pastoral  office. 
Christ  the  truth,  the  angel  His  messenger,  the 
Church  that  to  which  truth  is  made  known  by 
the  messenger,  and  in  which  truth  is  embodied, 
that  its  light  may  fall  upon  the  surrounding 
darkness.  No  man  can  be  a  messenger  of 
the  Master  and  the  Church  save  as  he  is  held 
in  the  right  hand  of  Jesus,  and  interprets,  not  J 
his  own  idea  concerning  the  Church's  well- 
being,  nor  the  Church's  wish  concerning  its 
function,  but  the  will  of  the  Master.  The  mes- 
senger has  no  authority  in  himself,  no  authority 
which  he  derives  from  the  Church  over  which 
he  presides.     His  authority  is  the  communi- 


1 8     A  First  Century  Message 

cated  authority  of  the  Son  of  man,  Who  is 
Lord  and  Master  of  the  whole. 

In  the  midst  of  the  world's  night,  the  Church 
unified  by  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  diversified 
in  the  seven  lampstands,  is  a  light  shining  in 
a  dark  place.  This  perfectly  sets  forth  the  one 
responsibility  of  every  church  of  Jesus  Christ. 
It  is  to  be  a  medium  through  which  the  essen- 
tial Light  of  the  world  shall  shine  upon  the 
world's  darkness.  A  most  important  principle 
to  be  perpetually  borne  in  mind  by  those  who 
would  fulfil  the  highest  function  of  Church 
life  is  that  the  world  waits  for  light,  and  the 
Church's  only  capacity  for  shedding  the  light, 
yj  is  that  she  should  live  in  the  day  which  the 
^ace  of  Christ  creates  for  her.  No  church 
and  no  individual  member  of  a  church,  can 
fling  across  the  darkness  one  ray  or  gleam  of 
light  save  as  that  church  or  that  person  lives 
in  the  sunshine  created  by  the  shining  of  His 
face.  When  the  Master  was  here  He  said  "  I 
am  the  Light  of  the  world."  That  Light  was 
eclipsed  in  the  darkness  of  Calvary's  Cross, 
but  from  behind  the  dense  cloud,  it  broke  again 
to  shine  upon  all  those  who  receive  life  by  the 
way  of  that  Cross,  and  through  them  to  flash 
upon  the  night  of  the  world. 

Thus  having  seen  the  general  scheme,  before 


The  Vision  and  the  Voice      19 

passing  to  a  close  consideration  of  the  central 
Figure,  we  pause  for  a  moment  to  look  again 
at  the  lampstands  and  at  the  stars. 

Let  it  be  emphasized  that  the  lampstands  are 
not  the  sources  of  light  but  the  bearers  of 
light,  also  that  their  number  is  seven,  and  that 
they  are  golden.  So  that  if  they  do  not  in 
themselves  create  light,  it  is  evident  that  the 
medium  upon  which  the  light  is  to  rest,  and 
from  which  it  is  to  flash  upon  the  darkness, 
must  be  heavenly  and  perfect.  While  we  have 
no  light  of  our  own  with  which  to  help  men  in 
the  darkness,  for  God's  light  must  shine  upon 
and  through  us,  we  must  in  order  to  that 
shining,  know  what  it  is  to  partake  of  that 
nature  which  is  symbolized  by  the  gold  of  the 
sanctuary.  Thus  we  have  a  symbolism  of 
function,  and  a  symbolism  of  character. 

The  stars  held  in  His  right  hand  are  symbols 
of  the  fact  that  ministry  to  be  effective,  must 
be  of  heavenly  character,  revolving  solely 
around  the  central  sun. 

In  reverently  examining  the  central  figure, 
we  notice  first  His  position.  He  is  "  in  the 
midst  of  the  lampstands,"  unifying  them  into 
one  whole,  and  directing  them  by  individual 
messages,  showing  His  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  details  of  each. 


20       A  First  Century  Message 

His  general  appearance  is  that  of  the  Son 
of  man.  It  is  important  to  remember  that  this 
phrase  occurs  in  the  Gospel  narratives  with 
regard  to  the  Master,  eighty-five  times,  and  of 
these,  Christ  Himself  makes  use  of  it  eighty- 
three.  The  first  detail  of  the  vision  is  a  sym- 
*bolism  of  function,  and  the  second  a  symbolism 
of  character. 

His  function  is  suggested  by  His  robing. 
"  Clothed  with  a  garment  down  to  the  foot, 
and  girt  about  at  the  breasts  with  a  golden 
girdle."  Two  things  are  suggested  by  this 
double  figure.  The  garment  to  the  foot  sug- 
gests the  right  to  govern  and  to  judge.  It  is 
the  robing  of  judicial  authority,  not  the  robing 
of  the  priest.  He  is  here  seen  as  the  central 
Authority  in  all  Church  life,  having  sole  right 
to  pronounce  verdict  and  sentence  upon  all 
the  service  that  the  Church  renders.  The 
girdle  is  frequently  mentioned  in  Scripture. 
Sometimes  it  is  the  girdle  of  the  loins,  and 
sometimes  the  girdle  of  the  breasts.  The 
former  is  the  symbol  of  activity  and  power, 
the  latter  that  of  faithfulness  and  affection. 
In  this  case  the  girdle  is  at  the  breasts,  show- 
ing the  fidelity  of  His  love.  This  robing  of 
the  Son  of  Man  reveals  His  judicial  position 


The  Vision  and  the  Voice       21 

among  the  churches,  and  that  all  the  exercise 
of  judicial  right  is  based  upon  the  faithful- 
ness of  the  Eternal  Love. 

A  remarkable  Scripture  in  the  prophecy  of 
Isaiah  will  serve  to  throw  light  upon  the  ro- 
bing. *'  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day, 
that  I  will  call  My  servant  Eliakim  the  son  of 
Hilkiah :  and  I  will  clothe  him  with  Thy  robe, 
and  strengthen  him  with  Thy  girdle,  and  I  will 
commit  Thy  government  into  his  hand:  and 
he  shall  be  a  father  to  the  inhabitants  of  Je- 
rusalem, and  to  the  house  of  Judah."  There 
is  of  course  no  immediate  connection  between 
the  subject  dealt  with  in  Isaiah  and  the  one 
now  under  consideration,  but  we  refer  to  it 
that  we  may  have  light  upon  the  symbolism  of 
the  robe  and  the  girdle  in  our  vision. 

Jesus  moves  amid  the  churches  with  the  robe 
reaching  to  His  feet,  marking  the  fact  that  He 
is  the  sole  Governor  of  His  people,  having  the 
right  to  pass  His  verdict  upon  their  service, 
and  reward  or  punish  them  as  He  will.  The 
golden  girdle  about  the  breasts  reveals  the 
fact  that  every  judgment  He  pronounces,  and 
every  sentence  He  passes,  is  based  upon  His 
infinite  love  and  faithfulness.  Christ  is  the  one 
supreme  Head,  Ruler,  Governor,  among  His 


2  2       A  First  Century  Message 

people,  and  all  His  headship,  and  His  rule, 
and  His  government  are  based  upon  His  in- 
finite and  unfailing  compassion. 

Passing  from  the  symbolism  of  function  to 
that  of  character  we  have  the  most  marvellous 
and  entrancing  vision  of  Jesus  Christ  con- 
tained in  Scripture.  We  can  do  no  more  than 
pass  rapidly  over,  attempting  to  indicate  the 
significance  of  the  sevenfold  glory  revealed. 

"  His  head  and  His  hair  were  white  as  white 
wool,  white  as  snow." 

"  His  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire." 

"  His  feet  Hke  unto  burnished  brass,  as  if  it 
had  been  refined  in  a  furnace." 

"  His  voice  as  the  voice  of  many  waters." 

"  In  His  right  hand  seven  stars." 

"  Out  of  His  mouth  proceeded  a  sharp  two- 
edged  sword." 

"  His  countenance  was  as  the  sun  shineth 
in  his  strength." 

Here  are  seven  points  to  which  our  attention 
is  directed.  His  head.  His  hair.  His  eyes.  His 
feet,  His  voice.  His  hand.  His  mouth.  His 
countenance. 

Let  us  take  them  in  their  order. 
"^  "  His  head  and  His  hair  were  white  as  white 
wool,  white  as  snow"    Two  facts  are  symbo- 
lized by  this  language,  His  purity  and  His  eter- 


The  Vision  and  the  Voice 


23 


nity.  The  description  is  remarkably  similar  to 
that  in  the  book  of  Daniel,  describing  the  "  An- 
cient of  Days."  The  hair  white  as  wool  is  the 
mark  of  age,  and  yet  of  age  that  is  not  aged. 
This  whiteness  is  moreover  the  symbol  of 
purity,  and  these  two  facts  are,  in  the  last 
analysis,  but  one,  for  all  eternal  things  are 
pure,  and  only  purity  can  be  eternal.  The 
doomed  things  are  the  base,  the  impure,  the  ^^ 
unholy  things,  and  in  the  glorious  vision  of 
the  royal  head  of  the  Son  of  man,  shining  like 
some  snow-capped  mountain  peak,  far  ele- 
vated, we  see  Him  as  Son  of  God  also,  His 
purity  the  basis  of  His  eternity,  His  eternity 
the  crowning  of  His  purity. 
_  ''His  eyes  were  as  a  Hame  of  Hre."  Here 
the  suggestion  is  that  of  infinite  and  infallible 
knowledge,  eyes  that  pierce  and  penetrate, 
from  which  no  secret  thing  can  possibly  be^ 
hidden,  eyes  that  being  as  a  flame  of  fire,  see- 
ing through  and  through,  detect  all  that  is 
hidden  from  ordinary  sight,  separating  with 
unerring  accuracy  the  alloy  from  the  pure 
gold.  Thus  the  Son  of  man  amid  the  churches 
is  revealed  as  the  One  from  Whom  nothing 
can  be  hidden.  There  is  no  detail  in  the  do- 
ings of  a  church,  or  in  the  life  of  an  individual 
member,  that  He  is  not  perfectly  acquainted 


24      A  First  Century  Message 

with.  He  has  seen  and  rightly  valued  every 
deed  of  lowly  service  which  the  earthly  records 
of  the  Church  have  found  no  place  for.  The 
steady,  searching  eyes  of  the  great  Son  of 
man  are  ever  upon  the  churches  that  bear  His 
name,  and  absolutely  nothing  can  be  hidden 
from  that  gaze. 

"  His  feet  like  unto  burnished  brass,  as  if  it 
had  been  refined  in  a  furnace/*  The  feet  are  the 
symbols  of  procedure,  and  indicate  the  con- 
tinued activity  of  Christ  among  the  churches, 
and  through  the  churches,  as  He  marches,  the 
Leader  of  the  hosts  of  God,  toward  His  ulti- 
mate victory. 

These  feet  are  of  brass  as  though  they 
burned  in  a  furnace.  Brass  is  invariably  the 
type  of  strength,  and  the  furnace  of  fire  is 
symbolic  of  purification.  Thus  the  Son  of 
man  is  seen  moving  amid  the  churches  ever 
toward  the  consummation  upon  which  the 
heart  of  God  is  set,  with  such  absolute  purity, 
that  He  can  never  be  contaminated  with  the 
evil  upon  which  He  treads,  and  with  such 
tremendous  strength  that  He  can  never  be  pre- 
vented by  the  opposition  raised  against  Him. 

''His  voice  as  the  voice  of  many  waters/* 
This  exquisitely  beautiful  statement  I  think  I 
never  appreciated  until   for  the  first  time  I 


The  Vision  and  the  Voice      25 

stood  near  the  mighty  falls  of  Niagara,  as  the 
water  sweeps  from  height  to  depth  in  calm 
persistent  majesty  with  a  cry  that  excludes  all 
other  sounds,  possesses  all  your  soul,  and  yet 
fills  you  with  a  deep  peace  and  quiet.  The 
mighty  music  of  the  many  waters  impressed 
me  as  nothing  else,  and  as  I  listened  there 
came  to  me  with  new  meaning  the  words  "  His 
voice  as  the  voice  of  many  waters." 

The  suggestion  is  very  beautiful.  What  is 
the  voice  of  many  waters  ?  It  is  a  perfect  con- 
cord of  divers  tones;  many  waters,  one  voice. 
"  God,  having  of  old  time  spoken  unto  the 
fathers  in  the  prophets  by  divers  portions  and 
in  divers  manners,  hath  at  the  end  of  theses^ 
days  spoken  unto  us  in  His  Son."  "  His  voice 
as  the  voice  of  many  waters."  These  waters 
have  come  from  the  hills  of  long  ago  in  single 
streams,  all  their  courses  bent  toward  Him. 
In  Him  they  mingle  and  they  merge,  and  in 
Him  is  discovered  the  perfect  harmony  of  the 
thousand  melodies  of  the  past.  Close  atten- 
tion by  a  trained  ear  will  detect  each  separate 
value,  and  it  will  be  found  that  there  is  no 
subject  upon  which  He  has  not  something  to 
say.  He  speaks  to  art,  to  music,  to  science, 
to  literature,  to  all  life,  to  each  separately,  and 
yet  to  each  in  its  relation  to  all  the  rest.    Many 


26      A  First  Century  Message 

waters,  many  messengers,  many  messages,  yet 
one  voice,  one  word,  one  revelation. 

So  moving  amid  the  lampstands,  with  hair 
like  wool,  telling  of  His  purity  and  eternity, 
with  eyes  as  a  flame  of  fire,  searching  and 
knowing  every  detail  of  all  the  life  of  the 
churches,  with  His  feet  like  brass  that  burned 
in  a  furnace,  moving  toward  the  consumma- 
tion. He  speaks,  and  the  infinite  music  is  a 
perfect  harmony  of  all  the  tones  of  the  voice 
of  God. 

"He  had  in  His  right  hand  seven  stars/' 
In  all  the  symbolism  of  the  old  economy,  the 
right  hand  is  the  mark  of  authoritative  admin- 
istration, and  here  has  the  same  significance. 
In  the  centre  of  that  hand  of  power  rest  the 
seven  stars  which  are  the  angels  of  the 
churches,  the  place  of  perfect  rest,  perfect 
power,  perfect  protection.  Oh,  blessed,  blessed 
place  of  rest  for  the  Master's  messengers !  Oh, 
high  and  holy  honour  to  lie  in  that  right  hand, 
and  listen  while  He  speaks,  and  still  from  the 

isame  vantage  ground  to  repeat  the  words  of 

jHis  will. 

"  Out  of  His  mouth  proceeded  a  sharp  two- 
edged  sword/'  We  have  heard  the  voice  of 
many  waters  that  speaks  of  revelation,  of  His 
uttering  of  the  deep  things  of  God.    Here  is 


The  Vision  and  the  Voice      27 

symbolized  another  aspect  of  His  speech  to 
men,  that  namely  of  His  pronouncement  on 
the  things  of  men.  While  He  was  yet  on 
earth,  He  distinctly  affirmed  that  by  His  words 
men  should  be  judged,  and  the  value  of  this 
symbolism  will  be  better  understood  as  we  hear 
His  verdicts  concerning  the  churches  amid 
whom  He  rrioves.  It  will  then  be  seen  how 
sharp  that  sword  is,  and  how  its  double  action 
condemns  the  fault  and  approves  the  excel- 
lence. 

"'  His  countenance  as  the  sun  shineth  in  his 
strength/^  The  countenance  is  the  sum  total 
of  all  the  features  of  the  face.  The  dome-like 
splendour  oFlhe  forehead,  crowned  by  the 
white  hair,  the  flashing  glory  of  the  wondrous 
eyes,  the  marvellous  expressiveness  of  the 
mouth,  from  which  proceeds  the  sword-like 
speech,  and  the  sound  of  the  voice  of  many 
waters ;  take  all  these,  and  other  things  not  de- 
scribed, in  combination,  and  the  result  is  a  sun 
of  light  and  glory,  shining  in  strength.  "  God 
is  a  sun,"  and  the  merging  of  the  features  of 
humanity  into  the  perfect  impression  of  the 
countenance,  reveals  in  might  and  majesty  the 
Deity  of  the  Son  of  man. 

Take  this  picture  and  look  at  it  again  and 
again  until  the  vision  holds  you  in  its  marvel- 


28      A  First  Century  Message 

lous  power.  His  head  and  His  hair  white  like 
wool,  His  purity  and  His  eternity;  His  eyes 
like  a  flame  of  fire,  His  intimate  knowledge, 
penetrating  and  piercing;  His  feet  like  burn- 
ished brass,  signifying  the  procedure  of 
strength  and  purity;  His  voice  like  the  voice 
of  many  waters,  a  concord  of  perfect  tones ;  in 
His  hand  seven  stars.  His  administrative  right, 
power  and  protection;  from  His  mouth  a 
sharp  two-edged  sword,  keen  and  accurate 
verdicts  concerning  His  people;  His  whole 
countenance  as  the  sun,  creating  day,  flashing 
light,  bathing  all  the  landscape  with  beauty. 

Such  was  the  One  Who  moved  amid  the 
churches  in  the  vision  of  the  saint  at  Patmos, 
and  such  the  One  who  still  unifies  the 
churches  into  the  Church,  by  His  presence  and 
presidence. 

Thus  the  Lord  is  seen  in  all  the  fulness  and 
the  functions  of  His  glory,  presiding  over  the 
witnessing  of  the  Church  in  the  midst  of  dark- 
ness, and  we  now  turn  to  a  study  of  the  mes- 
sages He  delivers,  ever  keeping  this  vision 
before  us. 


THE  EPHESUS  LETTER 


"  To  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Ephesus  write ; 

"  These  things  saith  He  that  holdeth  the  seven 
stars  in  His  right  hand,  He  that  walketh  in  the 
midst  of  the  seven  golden  lampstands :  I  know  thy 
works,  and  thy  toil  and  patience,  and  that  thou  canst 
not  bear  evil  men,  and  didst  try  them  which  call 
themselves  apostles,  and  they  are  not,  and  didst  find 
them  false;  and  thou  hast  patience  and  didst  bear 
for  My  name's  sake,  and  hast  not  grown  weary. 
But  I  have  against  thee,  that  thou  didst  leave  thy 
first  love.  Remember  therefore  from  whence  thou 
art  fallen,  and  repent,  and  do  the  first  works ;  or 
else  I  come  to  thee,  and  will  move  thy  lampstand 
out  of  its  place,  except  thou  repent.  But  this  thou 
hast,  that  thou  hatest  the  works  of  the  Nicolaitans, 
which  I  also  hate.  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear 
what  the  Spirit  saith  to  the  churches.  To  him  that 
overcometh,  to  him  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of 
life,  which  is  in  the  Paradise  of  God."    Rev.  ii :  1-7. 


Ill 

THE  EPHESUS  LETTER 

A  T  the  time  of  the  writing  of  the  epistle, 
Ephesus  was  the  metropolis  of  Ionia,  and 
undoubtedly  a  great  and  opulent  city.  All 
kinds  of  people  were  gathered  there,  the 
wealthy  and  the  learned,  as  well  as  the  poor 
and  the  illiterate.  The  general  condition  of 
life  was  that  of  a  wealthy,  cultured,  and  cor- 
rupt community. 

So  far  as  the  history  of  the  church  is  con- 
cerned, we  have  a  most  interesting  account  of 
its  planting  and  progress  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles.  This  account  lies  almost  completely 
within  chapters  eighteen  to  twenty.  Paul  on 
his  journey ings  arrived  in  the  city  accom- 
panied by  Aquila  and  Priscilla.  As  his  cus- 
tom was,  he  went  into  the  synagogue,  and 
spoke  to  the  assembled  people  of  the  one  theme 
ever  on  his  heart.  Passing  on  his  way,  he 
left  behind  him  these  two  people.  Thus  was 
first  spoken  the  message  of  the  risen  and  cru- 
cified Christ,  and  from  such  an  apparently  hur- 
ried commencement  there  came  eventually  a 
strong  and  remarkable  church. 
31 


32       A  First  Century  Message 

The  next  event  of  note  was  the  arrival  of 
Apollos.  He  had  learned  of  Jesus  through  the 
ministry  of  John,  and  was  a  man  of  splendid 
mental  equipment  and  great  oratorical  power. 
In  Ephesus  he  declared  all  he  knew  of  truth 
with  the  result  that  a  little  group  of  men,  at- 
tracted by  the  story  he  had  to  tell,  imperfect 
though  it  was,  were  baptized  with  the  baptism 
of  John.  Beyond  that  they  made  no  progress. 
They  were  in  all  about  twelve  in  number. 

Then  came  a  crisis.  Paul  returned  to  Ephe- 
sus, Apollos  having  passed  on  to  Achaia  and 
Corinth.  In  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth 
chapters  of  the  Acts  we  have,  briefly  stated, 
the  work  he  accomplished  during  a  period  of 
about  three  years.  It  is  very  interesting  to 
notice  the  growth.  He  found  twelve  disciples, 
imperfectly  instructed,  not  yet  having  received 
the  Spirit  of  God,  men  who  were  followers  of 
Christ  so  far  as  they  had  light.  Apollos  had 
preached  the  baptism  of  water  to  repentance 
as  preparatory  to  entrance  upon  the  Kingdom 
over  which  Jesus  was  to  preside.  Paul  found 
them  ignorant  of  the  very  essentials  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  asked  them  evidently  in  a  tone  of 
surprise  and  enquiry,  "  Did  ye  receive  the 
Holy  Ghost  when  ye  believed."  And  they  re- 
plied "  Nay,  we  did  not    as    much    as    hear 


The  Ephesus  Letter  33 

whether  the  Holy  Ghost  was  given."  This 
called  for  further  enquiry  as  to  the  nature  of 
their  baptism,  and  then  finding  that  they  had 
been  baptized  with  John's  baptism,  he  led  them 
into  further  light.  How  much  they  had  gained 
from  obedience  to  the  light  received  is  re- 
vealed by  their  readiness  to  obey  the  new  light 
that  fell.  They  were  baptized  into  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  the  apostle,  laying  his 
hands  upon  them,  they  received  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

Then  Paul  began  to  teach  in  the  synagogue, 
and  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  they  suffered 
him  to  do  this  for  three  months.  The  effect  of 
the  preaching  was  as  always.  To  those  who 
were  disobedient  there  came  hardness,  and  a 
spirit  of  opposition  was  aroused.  The  apostle 
saw  that  the  time  had  arrived  for  the  outward 
formation  of  a  church.  He  gathered  the  dis- 
ciples out  of  the  synagogue,  and  securing  the 
school  of  Tyrannus,  he  began  preaching  there. 
During  two  years  the  church  grew  until  it  be- 
came a  great  centre  of  missionary  operations. 
The  Word  of  God  sounded  out  through  all 
Asia  as  the  result  of  the  teaching  in  Ephesus. 

Then  mark  what  followed.  Imitators  arose, 
men  desiring  to  accomplish  the  same  results, 
but  lacking  the  necessary  power.     Some  of 


34       A  First  Century  Message 

these  took  upon  themselves  the  work  of  cast- 
ing out  evil  spirits,  using  the  name  of  Jesus 
saying,  "  I  adjure  you  by  Jesus  Whom  Paul 
preacheth."  But  demons  were  not  so  to  be  de- 
ceived, and  the  startling  answer  came  "  Jesus 
I  know,  and  Paul  I  know;  but  who  are  ye? 
And  the  man  in  whom  the  evil  spirit  was, 
leaped  on  them,  and  mastered  both  of  them, 
and  prevailed  against  them,  so  that  they  fled 
out  of  that  house  naked  and  wounded." 

Attempts  to  imitate  the  work  of  the  Spirit 
through  the  servants  of  God  always  ends  dis- 
astrously to  those  who  make  the  attempt. 
From  this  experience  the  work  blazed  out 
again  in  new  power.  Fear  fell  upon  all,  and 
those  that  practiced  magical  arts,  brought  their 
books  together  and  burned  them. 

Then  followed  new  opposition  against  Paul, 
the  reason  being  that  he  had  endangered  the 
craftsmen's  art. 

Then  Paul  left  Ephesus,  and  journeyed 
through  Macedonia.  Passing  back  through 
the  same  region,  he  paused  at  Miletus  that  he 
might  there  meet  the  elders  of  the  church  at 
Ephesus,  and  as  he  was  to  be  no  more  with 
them,  he  gave  them  parting  instructions. 

It  is  more  than  probable  that  at  this  time 
John  came  down  and  took  oversight  of  the 


The  Ephesus  Letter  35 

church.  How  long  he  remained  it  is  impos- 
sible to  decide.  In  all  likelihood  the  message 
of  Jesus  to  the  church  of  Ephesus  was  sent 
about  thirty-five  years  after  Paul's  departure. 
It  reveals  the  changes  that  had  been  wrought. 
To  it  we  now  turn  our  attention. 

The  Lord  introduces  Himself  as  "  He  that 
holdeth  the  seven  stars  in  His  right  hand,  He 
that  walketh  in  the  midst  of  the  seven  golden 
lampstands."  Here  as  always  there  is  a  very 
remarkable  fitness  of  selection.  It  is  evident 
that  the  church  at  Ephesus  is  fulfilling  the 
true  ideal  of  Church  order.  Christ  is  seen  as 
the  unifying  Centre  and  Director  of  the 
church,  walking  still  amid  the  seven  golden 
lampstands,  and  holding  in  His  right  hand 
the  seven  stars.  No  other  things  in  that  de- 
scriptive vision  are  nientioned  concerning  Him. 
The  true  Church  order  is  still  maintained,  the 
ministry  is  in  its  proper  and  rightful  place. 
Outwardly  everything  is  as  it  should  be.  There 
is  no  flaw,  no  failure,  in  organization,  in  work, 
in  attitude,  so  far  as  any  visiting  apostle  could 
have  discovered  it,  or  so  far  as  the  world  was 
concerned  in  watching  it. 

Then  follows  our  Lord's  commendation,  a 
commendation  so  remarkable  that  I  venture  to 
think  a  careful  consideration  of  it  will  leave 


36       A  First  Century  Message 

us  inclined  to  ask,  Can  there  be  anything 
wrong  with  this  church?  Had  we  visited  it, 
in  all  probability  we  should  have  reported  that 
it  was  the  most  remarkable  church  we  had  ever 
seen.  The  commendation  is  sevenfold.  "  I 
know  thy  works,  and  thy  toil  and  patience, 
and  that  thou  canst  not  bear  evil  men,  and 
didst  try  them  which  call  themselves  apostles, 
and  they  are  not,  and  didst  find  them  false; 
and  thou  hast  patience  and  didst  bear  for  My 
name^s  sake,  and  hast  not  grown  weary."  One 
is  startled  at  the  completeness  of  the  commen- 
dation.    Consider  it  closely. 

"  I  know  thy  works."  This  has  reference  to 
actual  service  being  rendered.  The  church 
was  not  a  comfortable  club  for  the  conserving 
of  the  life  of  a  few  saints.  It  was  an  active 
and  aggressive  congregation  of  the  saints. 

"  I  know  thy  toil."  This  word  lies  deeper, 
having  reference  to  the  effort  that  produces 
work  even  at  the  cost  of  pain.  There  are  those 
who  boast  that  their  work  and  their  gifts  cost 
them  nothing.  Wherever  that  is  true  the  work 
is  worthless.  These  people  at  Ephesus  could 
make  no  such  boast,  for  behind  the  works  lay 
the  toil.  They  were  not  offering  to  the  Master, 
to  the  church,  to  the  world  things  worthless 


The  Ephesus  Letter  37 

because  costless.     They  were  working  at  the 
price  of  toil. 

"  And  thy  patience,"  that  is  the  attitude  of 
persistence  in  the  toil  that  produces  the  work. 
These  first  three  words  are  closely  linked,— 
"works,  toil,  patience."  And  the  words  are 
the  more  wonderful  as  we  remember  they  fall 
from  the  lips  of  Jesus.  It  is  not  merely  the 
opinion  of  an  apostle  or  a  stranger.  It  is  the 
definitely  expressed  verdict  of  the  Lord  of  the 
church,  the  One  Who  with  eyes  of  fire,  scans 
every  detail.  I  know  your  works,  and  that 
behind  them  there  is  the  toil  that  speaks  of 
pain,  and  enveloping  that  there  is  the  patient 
endurance  that  makes  work  perpetual. 

And  "  I  know  that  thou  canst  not  bear  evil 
men."  There  is  no  impurity  condoned  within 
the  borders  of  this  church.  It  has  no  com- 
plicity with  the  evil  things  in  Ephesus.  They 
had  guarded  the  fellowship  of  the  saints 
against  the  unholy  intrusion  of  impure  men. 
They  had  not  been  lax  in  their  discipline  as  to 
life. 

"  Thou  didst  try  them  which  call  themselves 
apostles,  and  they  are  not,  and  didst  find  them 
false."  The  church  had  been  careful  about  its 
doctrine,  careful  about  what    it    listened    to, 


38        A  First  Century  Message 

characterized  by  discernment  and  judgment 
of  false  teachers.  Not  only  had  their  dis- 
cipline been  perfect  as  to  the  life  of  their  mem- 
bers, but  they  had  refused  to  tolerate  the  false 
teachers  that  had  come  to  them. 

And  yet  again  "  Thou  hast  patience  and 
didst  bear  for  My  name's  sake."  Their  per- 
sistent fidelity  had  not  been  in  circumstances 
that  were  always  easy.  Persecution  had  raged 
around  them,  and  yet  they  had  maintained 
their  works. 

And  then  the  last  and  most  remarkable 
word,  "  Thou  hast  not  grown  weary."  They 
had  a  great  reserve  of  strength.  All  the 
achievements  had  been  under  the  impulse  of, 
and  in  the  power  of  unswerving  fidelity. 

This  description  is  surely  most  remarkable. 
The  church  at  work,  labouring  at  the  work, 
patiently  persistent  in  the  labour  that  produced 
the  work.  The  church  refusing  to  have  fel- 
lowship with  evil  men,  observing  the  false 
philosophy  of  certain  teaching  and  rejecting  it. 
The  church,  persistent  in  its  faithfulness  and 
unwearying  in  its  service.  If  the  Master,  visit- 
ing the  church  to  which  we  belong  uttered 
such  words  as  these,  should  we  not  feel  that 
they  constituted  the  highest  commendation  that 
could  possibly  be  passed? 


The  Ephcsus  Letter  39 

And  yet  once  again,  after  the  complaint 
which  He  makes,  He  adds  something  more  to 
the  commendation.  "  But  this  thou  hast,  that 
thou  hatest  the  works  of  the  Nicolaitans,  which 
I  also  hate."  Some  doubt  exists  as  to  the 
peculiar  views  of  the  Nicolaitans.  Some  light 
may  be  thrown  upon  the  subject  by  reference 
to  the  letter  to  Pergamum.  "  I  have  a  few 
things  against  thee,  because  thou  hast  there 
some  that  hold  the  teaching  of  Balaam,  who 
taught  Balak  to  cast  a  stumbHngblock  before 
the  children  of  Israel,  to  eat  things  sacrificed 
to  idols,  and  to  commit  fornication.  So  hast 
thou  also  some  that  hold  the  teaching  of  the 
Nicolaitans  in  like  manner."  My  personal 
conviction  is  that  the  Nicolaitans  were  persons 
who  excused  certain  forms  of  impurity,  and 
made  the  grace  of  God  a  cloak  for  lascivious- 
ness.  I  believe  the  heresy  was  that  known  in 
latter  days  as  Antinomianism,  which  declares 
that  grace  is  sufficient  for  salvation,  and  that 
life  is  of  little  moment.  This  heresy  will  be 
dealt  with  more  fully  in  considering  the  letter 
to  Pergamum. 

So  wonderful  a  commendation  seems  to 
leave  nothing  to  be  desired.  No  eye  but  the 
penetrating  eye  of  fire  which  is  the  eye  of  love 
would  ever  have  detected  the  failure  of  the 


40       A  First  Century  Message 

church  at  Ephesus,  at  this  point.  Subsequently 
that  failure  would  have  been  detected  even  by 
the  outsider.  The  Hving  Lord  was  conscious 
of  the  incipient  disease  which  others  could 
only  know  as  it  manifested  itself  in  the  ex- 
ternalities. Light  focussed  in  a  camera  has  re- 
vealed the  presence  of  disease  in  the  face  of  a 
child  long  before  any  symptoms  appeared 
which  a  physician  could  have  detected.  So 
the  searching  light  of  the  eyes  of  fire  detected 
the  absence  of  an  essential  quality  in  the  life 
of  the  church. 

"  I  have  against  thee,  that  thou  didst  leave 
thy  first  love."  That  is  all.  No  other  sen- 
tence. No  other  word.  Immediately  He 
passes  to  the  counsel  which  He  has  to  give  to 
the  church.  And  yet  how  much  He  has  said. 
Seeing  the  church  now  in  the  light  of  His  dec- 
laration, all  the  radiance  of  the  former  things 
is  over-shadowed.  What  is  first  love,  and 
what  is  it  to  lose  first  love  ? 

First  love  is  the  love  of  espousal.  First  love 
is  marital.  In  writing  to  the  Corinthian 
church,  Paul  said,  "  For  I  espoused  you  to  one 
husband,  that  I  might  present  you  as  a  pure 
virgin  to  Christ.  But  I  fear,  lest  by  any 
means,  as  the  serpent  beguiled  Eve  in  his 
craftiness,  your  minds  should  be    corrupted 


The  Ephesus  Letter  41 

from  the  simplicity  and  the  purity  that  is  to- 
ward Christ."  That  is  first  love.  "  I  espoused 
you  to  one  husband,  that  I  might  present  you 
as  a  pure  virgin  to  Christ."  And  this  is  the 
loss  of  pure  love.  "But  I  fear,  lest  by  any 
means,  as  the  serpent  beguiled  Eve  in  his  craf- 
tiness, your  minds  should  be  corrupted  from 
the  simplicity  and  the  purity  that  is  toward 
Christ."  The  elements  of  first  love  then  are 
simplicity  and  purity.  Now  think  for  a  mo- 
ment of  what  this  same  man  wrote  to  this 
church  at  Ephesus.  After  dealing  with  the 
relation  of  husbands  to  wives,  and  wives  to 
husbands,  he  pens  this  marvellous  statement, 
"  This  mystery  is  great :  but  I  speak  in  regard 
of  Christ  and  of  the  Church." 

Now  what  is  the  mystery  to  which  he  refers. 
It  is  the  mystery  of  love  which  has  its  most 
radiant  revelation  in  the  marriage  relationship, 
and  the  apostle  declares  that  that  relationship 
is  the  most  perfect  symbol  of  that  existing  be- 
tween Christ  and  His  Bride.  "  Husbands, 
love  your  wives,  even  as  Christ  also  loved  the 
Church."  Thus  it  is  evident  that  Christ's  love 
for  the  Church  is  typified  by  the  love  of  hus- 
band for  wife.  "  Wives,  be  in  subjection  unto 
your  own  husbands,  as  unto  the  Lord."  Thus 
the  love  of  the  Church  to  Christ  is  typified  by 


42       A  First  Century  Message 

the  love  of  the  wife  for  the  husband.  What 
then  is  the  love  of  Christ  to  the  Church? 
Unselfish  love,  love  in  which  there  was  no 
single  thought  of  self.  What  then  is  the 
Church's  love  for  Christ?  The  response  of 
love  'to  the  mystery  of  love,  the  submission  of 
love  to  perfect  love.  First  love  is  the  love  of 
espousal.  Its  notes  are  simplicity,  and  purity, 
marital  love,  the  response  of  love  to  love,  the 
subjection  of  a  great  love  to  a  great  love,  the 
submission  of  a  self-denying  love  to  a  love  that 
denies  self.  First  love  is  the  abandonment  of 
all  for  a  love  that  has  abandoned  all. 

First  love  defies  analysis.  It  loves,  it  knows 
not  why,  save  that  the  lover  has  by  love  at- 
tracted love,  and  the  responsive  love  is  pure, 
unselfish,  ardent,  humble.  The  church  at 
Ephesus  had  had  its  first  love,  the  love  of  es- 
pousal, the  love  of  simplicity,  the  love  of 
singleness,  the  love  in  which  no  low  motive 
lurked.  First  love  is  fair  as  the  morning, 
bright  with  the  promise  of  hope,  a  flame  in  the 
presence  of  which  all  other  emotions  and  en- 
thusiasms are  included.  It  was  this  the  Master 
missed.  No  soul  can  trv  to  love  Him.  When 
you  felt  your  need  of  Him  as  Saviour,  and 
there  dawned  upon  you  the  vision  of  His  per- 
fect love,  and  you  found  that  the  perfect  sal- 


The  Ephesus  Letter  43 

vation  He  offered  was  Himself  given  to  you, 
your  raptured  soul  was  bound  to  Him  by  the 
excellency  of  His  own  character.  In  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  infinite  love  of  His  heart 
your  love  was  born,  and  the  first  flush  of  that 
young  love  of  yours  was  pure,  unselfish, 
humble,  ardent,  burning  like  a  flame,  consum- 
ing everything  in  its  fervour  and  its  fire. 

Now  think  of  the  infinite  pathos  of  that  one 
sentence  of  complaint.  "  Thou  didst  leave  thy 
first  love."  The  emotion  and  the  enthusiasm 
and  the  energy  are  lacking.  Jesus  recognizes 
this.  Had  Judas  been  a  member  of  this 
church,  he  would  have  found  nothing  to  criti- 
cize. He  criticized  Mary  of  Bethany,  and 
why?  Because  the  love  of  Mary  of  Bethany 
was  the  love  that  overstepped  all  the  bounds 
of  prudence  and  regularity.  Love  cannot  be 
weighed  in  scales  or  measured  with  a  foot  rule. 
It  overleaps  the  channel  you  cut  for  it,  and 
laughs  its  way  into  meadows,  leaving  behind  it 
the  track  of  fertility  and  the  fragrance  of 
flowers.  You  cannot  compress  it  into  mathe- 
matical formulae.  It  sings  in  poetry,  and  for- 
gets calculation.  It  worships  in  abandonment, 
and  oversteps  arithmetic.  It  is  a  vestal  flame. 
It  is  the  crowning  consciousness  of  life. 

The  church  at  Ephesus  was  still  a  remark- 


44       A  First  Century  Message 

able  church,  but  it  lacked  the  element  of  that 
enthusiasm,  which  in  the  eyes  of  the  calculating 
worldling,  is  imprudent.  There  are  some  peo- 
ple who  imagine  that  this  lack  of  enthusiasm  is 
an  advantage.  May  God  have  mercy  on  such. 
I  pray  the  day  may  never  come  when  the  hero- 
isms and  enthusiasms  of  first  love  shall  cease. 
Christ  stands  confronting  this  great  church, 
and  He  says  in  effect.  There  is  much  of  ex- 
cellency, but  I  miss  the  first  love.  I  do  not 
hear  the  song  at  the  unusual  hour.  I  wait  in 
vain  for  the  aroma  of  some  new  box  of  spike- 
nard.   The  church  has  become 

"  Faultily  faultless,  icily  regular, 
•  Splendidly  null." 

After  Christ  has  spoken,  we  begin  to  re- 
consider the  commendation,  and  even  in  that 
commendation  now  it  is  possible  to  detect 
omissions,  things  He  did  not  say  which  He 
might  have  said,  had  they  not  left  their  first 
love. 

In  Paul's  first  letter  to  the  Thessalonians  we 
have  inferentially  a  picture  of  a  church  in  its 
first  love.  There  were  many  irregularities  of 
doctrine  and  of  conduct,  but  there  was  a  great 
enthusiasm.  The  apostle  describing  their  con- 
dition says,  "  Remembering   without   ceasing 


The  Ephesus  Letter  45 

your  work  of  faith  and  labour  of  love    and 
patience  of  hope  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

Here  are  the  same  things  that  Christ  com- 
mends in  Ephesus  and  yet  how  different.  In 
the  full  rush  of  first  love  the  apostle  says 
of  the  Thessalonians  "  work  of  faith  .  . 
labour  of  love  .  .  .  patience  of  hope."  But 
speaking  to  the  church  at  Ephesus  Jesus  says 
"  work  .  .  .  labour  .  .  .  patience." 
What  are  the  missing  things  ?  "  The  faith, 
the  love,  the  hope."  In  first  love  it  is  ''  work 
of  faith."  First  love  lost,  it  is  "  work."  In 
first  love  it  is  "  labour  of  love."  First  love 
lost,  it  is  "  labour."  In  first  love  it  is  "  pa- 
tience of  hope."  With  first  love  lost  it  is  "  pa- 
tience." The  externalities  remain,  but  the  un- 
derlying sources  have  been  weakened.  Faith, 
out  of  which  work  grows,  is  faltering.  Love, 
the  principle  of  toil,  is  waning.  Hope,  the  in- 
spiration of  perpetual  patience,  is  dimmed. 
Now  these  three,  faith,  hope,  and  love  alike 
centre  in  the  Person.  Where  faith  in  Him  is 
strong,  works  abide.  Where  love  for  Him  is 
full,  enduring  toil  continues.  Where  hope  to- 
ward Him  is  perfect,  patience  is  perpetual. 
As  yet  the  outward  manifestations  are  not,  but 
the  Master  has  discovered  the  inward  back- 
sliding.   He  says  in  effect,  You  have  lost  your 


46       A  First  Century  Message 

first  love,  your  works  run  on,  but  your  faith 
in  Me  is  not  what  it  was,  your  labour  is  still 
evident,  but  the  love  is  weakened;  your  pa- 
tience is  still  evident,  but  your  hope  does  not 
bum  so  brightly.  And  presently  He  will  mark 
the  full  meaning  of  this.  Unless  you  repent 
and  get  back  to  these  first  things,  you  will  lose 
your  lampstand.  When  the  flame  of  love 
flickers,  then  its  sisters,  faith  and  hope  grow 
faint,  and  presently  the  outward  light  will  burn 
low,  and  the  surrounding  darkness  be  unil- 
luminated. 

In  the  light  of  these  statements  moreover, 
other  parts  of  the  commendation  may  be  recon- 
sidered. Is  it  not  more  than  likely  that  their 
very  opposition  to  false  men  and  doctrine  par- 
took of  the  nature  of  lack  of  love?  I  would 
speak  very  cautiously  at  this  point,  for  the 
Lord  commended  these  things,  and  they  were 
right,  but  I  am  quite  sure  that  there  may  be 
right  things  done  in  a  wrong  spirit.  I  seldom 
find  men  strenuously  fighting  what  they  are 
pleased  to  call  heterodox  teaching,  and  in  bitter 
language  denouncing  false  doctrine,  without 
being  more  afraid  for  the  men  denouncing  than 
for  the  men  denounced.  There  is  an  anger 
against  impurity  which  is  impure.  There  is 
a  zeal  for  orthodoxy  which  is  most  unorthodox. 


The  Ephesus  Letter  47 

There  is  a  spirit  that  contends  for  faith  which  is 
in  conflict  with  faith.  If  men  have  lost  their 
first  love,  they  will  do  more  harm  than  good  by 
their  defence  of  the  faith.  Behind  the  de- 
nunciation of  sin  there  must  always  be  the 
tenderness  of  first  love  if  that  denunciation  is 
not  to  become  evil  in  its  bitterness.  Behind  the 
zeal  for  truth,  there  must  always  be  the  spa- 
ciousness of  first  love  if  that  zeal  is  not  to  be- 
come narrowed  into  hate.  There  have  been 
men  who  have  become  so  self-centred  in  a 
narrowness  that  they  are  pleased  to  designate 
as  holding  the  truth,  that  the  very  principle 
for  which  they  contend  has  been  excluded  from 
their  life  and  service.  All  zeal  for  the  Master 
that  is  not  the  outcome  of  love  to  Him  is 
worthless.  His  love  is  so  perfect  that  nothing 
can  take  the  place  of  love  as  a  return.  He  who 
woos  the  bride  can  never  have  his  heart  sat- 
isfied with  a  servant.  Activity  in  the  King's 
business  will  not  make  up  for  neglect  of  the 
King.  He  who  has  lost  his  first  love  cannot 
satisfy  with  work  and  labour  and  patience,  and 
hatred  of  sin  and  orthodoxy.  The  Master 
waits  for  love.  Your  church  may  pass  muster 
as  one  of  those  amid  which  He  walks ;  but  He, 
walking  there  pines  for  your  love,  and  nothing 
satisfies  Him  but  love.     Oh  the  pathos  of  the 


4^        A  First  Century  Message 

picture!  Christ  in  all  His  glory  seeks  amid 
the  churches  first  for  love.  As  He  looks  over 
the  outward  perfections  of  Ephesus  He  dis- 
covers that  the  spirit,  the  tone,  the  temper  of 
the  church  is  altered.  No  eye  but  His  could 
have  detected  that  the  bloom  was  brushed 
away,  and  that  the  flame  was  less  ardent. 

Surely  this  message  needs  to  be  repeated  to 
all  our  churches  to-day.  Your  work,  your 
labour,  your  patience  are  all  evident.  Never 
were  you  busier.  Never  were  your  organiza- 
tions more  complete,  but  where  is  your  first 
love?  A  friend  of  mine  some  years  ago  had 
a  little  daughter  whom  he  dearly  loved,  and 
at  the  time  of  my  story,  she  was  between  ten 
and  eleven  years  of  age.  They  were  great 
friends,  and  were  always  found  in  each  other's 
company.  But  about  this  time  there  seemed  to 
come  some  estrangement  between  them  for 
which  he  could  not  account.  He  was  not  able 
to  get  her  company  as  he  had  been.  She 
seemed  to  shun  him,  and  if  he  went  for  a  walk, 
excused  herself  for  she  had  something  she 
must  do  at  home.  He  grieved  about  it  and 
could  not  understand  it,  and  yet  hardly  cared 
to  mention  to  her  what  was  apparent  to  him. 
One  day  his  birthday  came,  and  in  the  morn- 
ing of  that  day  she  came  into  his  room,  with 


The  Ephesus  Letter  49 

her  face  wreathed  in  smiles  and  said  "  Father 
I  have  brought  you  a  present."  She  handed 
him  a  parcel,  and  unfastening  it  he  found  an 
exquisitely  worked  pair  of  slippers.  He  said 
"  Darling,  it  was  very  good  of  you  to  buy  these 
for  me."  "  Oh,  Father,"  said  she,  "  I  did  not 
buy  them.  I  have  made  them  for  you."  Then 
looking  at  her  he  said  "  Oh,  now  I  think  I  un- 
derstand. Is  this  what  you  have  been  doing 
for  the  last  three  months  ?  "  She  replied  "  Yes, 
Father,  but  how  did  you  know  how  long  I  had 
been  at  work  on  them  ?  "  He  said  "  Because 
for  three  months  I  have  wanted  much  of  you, 
but  have  not  been  able  to  have  it.  You  have 
been  too  busy.  My  darling,  I  like  these  slip- 
pers very  much,  but  next  time,  buy  the 
slippers,  and  let  me  have  you  all  the  days, 
I  would  rather  have  my  child  than  anything  she 
can  make  for  me." 

That  story  has  ever  been  weighted  for  me 
with  spiritual  value.  Some  of  us  are  so  busy 
here  and  there  about  the  business  of  the  Lord 
that  He  cannot  get  us  much  for  Himself. 
There  is  so  much  to  be  done.  Do  not  misun- 
derstand me.  We  are  perfectly  sincere  in  our 
devotion,  and  yet  it  seems  to  me  as  if  some- 
times He  would  say  **  I  know  your  works, 
your  labour,   your  patience,  but   I  miss  the 


50       A  First  Century  Message 

first  love."  Do  you  not  remember  your  first 
love,  with  its  great  thrill,  when  all  Nature 
seemed  to  sing  a  new  song,  and  when  your 
chief  delight  was  to  be  alone  with  the  Lord, 
to  look  into  His  face,  and  in  silent  adoration 
sit  while  you  listened  to  His  voice?  Oh,  if 
that  old-time  delight  has  passed,  nothing  can 
make  up  for  it  to  Him  or  to  you. 

And  now  briefly  notice  the  counsel  He  gives 
to  this  church,  an  injunction,  a  warning,  and 
a  promise.  The  injunction  may  be  expressed 
in  three  words.  Remember,  Repent,  and  Re- 
peat. These  of  course  are  not  the  exact  words 
that  the  Master  used,  but  they  will  help  us  to 
bear  in  mind  the  terms  of  His  counsel. 

"  Remember  therefore  from  whence  thou  art 
fallen,"  go  back  and  think  of  the  freshness  of 
first  love.  Remind  your  heart  of  the  light  that 
never  was  on  sea  or  land  when  you  began  to 
love  Him.  Go  back  to  the  rising  life  of  the 
Spring-time.  "  Remember."  Oh,  the  tender- 
ness of  that  word  of  Christ.  Do  not  be  satis- 
fied any  longer  with  the  dead  level  of  your 
orthodoxy,  and  your  mechanical  pre5sion  in 
service.  "  Remember  therefore  from  whence 
thou  art  fallen." 

And  then  "  repent."  Turn  back'  in  heart 
and  purpose  of  the  old  attitude,  the  attitude 


The  Ephesus  Letter  5 1 

of  simplicity  and  purity,  the  abandonment  of 
everything  for  love,  the  love  of  espousal,  the 
first  love  that  leaves  father  and  mother  and 
house  and  lands  and  everything  for  the  loved 
one.  Go  back  to  that,  return  and  do  the  first 
works.  And  what  are  the  first  works?  Let 
Jesus  tell  us,  "  This  is  the  work  of  God,  that 
ye  believe  on  Him  Whom  He  hath  sent." 
Christ  said  in  effect  to  these  people,  '  Your  lack 
of  love  proves  your  failure  of  faith.  You  do 
not  believe  in  Me  as  you  did,  or  you  would 
love  Me  as  of  old.  You  have  lost  confidence. 
An  absolute  confidence  always  blossoms  into 
a  perfect  love.  And  if  the  fruit  of  your  love 
be  smitten,  it  is  because  at  the  root  of  your 
faith  is  some  disease.' 

Then  finally  mark  His  solemn  warning. 
"  Or  else  I  come  to  thee,  and  will  move  thy 
lampstand  out  of  its  place,  except  thou  re- 
pent." What  is  this  He  says?  Remove  thy 
lampstand?  Yes,  notwithstanding  all  the  per- 
fection of  your  work,  and  your  labour,  and 
your  patience,  notwithstanding  your  cold  and 
icy  purity,  notwithstanding  your  orthodoxy, 
unless  you  love,  that  lampstand  must  be  re- 
moved. It  is  impossible  to  witness  for  Christ 
in  the  darkness  of  the  world  except  in  the 
power  of  first  love.    It  is  not  abundant  works. 


52       A  First  Century  Message 

nor  even  a  passionate  determination  to  witness 
against  the  sin  of  the  world  that  serves  Him. 
Unless  there  be  first  love  the  lampstand  must 
be  removed.  It  is  a  solemn  warning.  Oh, 
that  we  might  rightly  understand  it,  and  see 
that  it  is  not  merely  a  capricious  threatening, 
but  the  statement  of  an  inevitable  sequence. 
Loss  of  first  love  to  Christ  will  inevitably  issue 
in  loss  of  love  to  the  brethren,  and  cannot  fail 
to  dry  up  the  rivers  of  compassion  toward  the 
outside  world.  It  is  the  first  love  of  the  saint 
that  is  the  true  light  that  shines  in  a  dark 
place.  When  men  outside  the  Church  can  look 
at  its  community  and  say  "  see  how  these  peo- 
ple love "  then  they  will  be  attracted  to  the 
Centre  upon  which  our  love  is  set.  Without 
first  love  we  may  retain  ceaseless  activity,  im- 
maculate purity,  severest  orthodoxy,  but  there 
will  be  no  light  shining  in  a  dark  place. 

It  is  not  our  doing  that  lightens  the  world. 
It  is  not  our  ceremonial  cleanness  that  helps 
men.  It  is  not  our  correctness  in  the  holding 
of  truth  that  helps  a  dying  race.  It  is  our  love 
first  for  our  Master,  then  for  each  other,  and 
then  for  the  world. 

Then  notice  the  graciousness  of  the  closing 
promise.  "  To  him  that  overcometh,  to  him 
will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life,  which  is  in 


The  Ephesus  Letter  53 

the  Paradise  of  God."  And  how  may  a  man 
overcome?  By  remembering,  repenting,  and 
repeating,  by  coming  back  to  the  beginnings. 
Then  shall  he  have  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life. 
See  how  the  great  words  gather  together. 
Life,  light,  love.  They  are  the  very  words 
that  Jesus  came  to  bring  us,  and  it  is  only  as 
we  have  life  that  we  love,  and  only  as  we  love 
that  we  shed  forth  light. 

The  supreme  lesson  of  this  study  for  to-day 
is  that  for  the  maintenance  of  our  position  as 
light-bearers  our  communion  with  the  Master 
in  all  the  abandonment  of  first  love  must  be 
maintained.  "  If  I  speak  with  the  tongues  of 
men  and  of  angels,  but  have  not  love,  I  am  be- 
come sounding  brass,  or  a  clanging  cymbal. 
And  if  I  have  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  know 
all  mysteries  and  all  knowledge ;  and  if  I  have 
all  faith,  so  as  to  remove  mountains,  but  have 
not  love,  I  am  nothing.  And  if  I  bestow  all 
my  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  if  I  give  my 
body  to  be  burned,  but  have  not  love,  it  profit- 
eth  me  nothing." 


THE  SMYRNA  LETTER 


*'  And  to  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Smyrna  write: 
**  These  things  saith  the  first  and  the  last,  which 
was  dead,  and  lived  again :  I  know  thy  tribulation, 
and  thy  poverty  (but  thou  art  rich),  and  the  blas- 
phemy of  them  which  say  they  are  Jews,  and  they 
are  not,  but  are  a  synagogue  of  Satan.  Fear  not 
the  things  which  thou  art  about  to  suffer:  behold, 
the  devil  is  about  to  cast  some  of  you  into  prison, 
that  ye  may  be  tried;  and  ye  shall  have  tribulation 
ten  days.  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will 
give  thee  the  crown  of  life.  He  that  hath  an  ear, 
let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  to  the  churches. 
He  that  overcometh  shall  not  be  hurt  of  the  second 
death."    Rev.  ii:8-ii. 


IV 

THE  SMYRNA  LETTER 

CMYRNA  has  been  for  long  centuries  a 
^prosperous  city.  Originally  an  Ionian  set- 
tlement, it  passed  for  a  period  into  obscurity. 
It  was  rebuilt  by  Alexander  the  Great  and 
Antigonus,  and  almost  immediately  it  became 
noted  and  wealthy. 

We  have  no  account  in  Scripture  of  the 
planting  of  the  church  there,  but  history  tells 
the  story  of  the  persecution  of  the  church,  and 
chronicles  the  fact  of  the  martyrdom  of  Poly- 
carp  in  his  ninetieth  year.  History  moreover 
clearly  states  the  cause  of  the  persecution, 
showing  that  it  arose  from  the  clamour  of  the 
pagan  population,  excited  and  incensed  by  the 
Jewish  community.  This  statement  is  valu- 
able as  throwing  much  light  upon  some  of  the 
things  incidentally  referred  to  in  the  epistle 

itself. 

The  Master  addressing  the  church,  speaks 
of  Himself  as  "  The  first  and  the  last,  which 
was  dead,  and  lived  again.*'  These  words  are 
a  repetition  of  those  which  He  had  addressed 
to  John  when,  smitten  with  a  great  fear  in  the 
57 


58        A  First  Century  Message 

presence  of  His  glory,  he  had  become  as  one 
dead.  This  church  is  in  the  midst  of  a  great 
sorrow,  and  the  Lord  announces  Himself  as 
the  living  One  Who  has  passed  through  death, 
and  therefore  possesses  the  keys  of  death  and 
of  Hades.  In  approaching  a  people  dwelling 
in  the  region  and  shadow  of  death,  some  of 
their  number  having  already  suffered  martyr- 
dom, others  of  them  most  certainly  approach- 
ing the  place  of  death  through  their  loyalty  to 
Him,  He  reminds  them  that  He  is  Master  of 
these  darker  matters  also,  and  holds  in  His 
own  hand  the  keys.  The  description  is  in- 
tended for  the  consolation  of  the  afflicted  peo- 
ple, and  indeed  out  of  this  description  by  which 
our  Lord  introduces  Himself  to  their  notice, 
flows  all  the  comfort  that  follows.  They  are 
in  the  midst  of  sorrow,  and  He  first  declares 
to  them  that  He  has  been  to  the  uttermost 
reach  of  it,  and  is  alive  again.  They  are  under 
the  shadow  of  death,  and  He  tells  them  that 
He  "  has  been  dead,  and  is  alive  forevermore." 


They  are  almost  certainly  in  the  midst  of  those 
perplexities  and  questionings  which  come  to 
men  when  surrounded  by  sorrow.  He  tells 
them  that  He,  having  been  dead,  is  now  alive ; 
and,  moreover,  that  He  holds  the  keys  of  death 
and  of  Hades,  the  symbols  of  solution  and  au- 


The  Smyrna  Letter  59 

thority.  He  has  unlocked  the  problem  and  is 
now  Master  of  the  situation. 

The  Master's  method  in  commending  this 
church  at  Smyrna  is  remarkable.  He  offers 
them  no  solution  of  the  problem  of  their  pain, 
and  it  may  be  said  that  the  commendation  is 
contained  in  a  silence  and  a  parenthesis.  His 
approval  of  this  church  is  manifest  not  so 
much  by  what  He  said,  as  by  the  fact  that  He 
had  no  complaint  to  make  concerning-  them. 
Added  to  the  silence  there  is  one  brief  phrase, 
parenthetically  interjected,  four  words  only, 
"  But  thou  art  rich."  A  careful  investigation 
will  show  the  value  of  this  phrase,  and  who 
would  not  rather  have  that  illuminative  flash- 
light than  all  the  eulogy  that  fell  from  His 
lips  on  the  church  at  Ephesus  ?  Here  as  ever, 
the  value  of  the  statement  depends  upon  the 
fact  that  it  was  Christ  Who  uttered  it.  We 
shall  only  be  able  to  understand  the  silence  of 
Jesus  and  this  parenthetical  commendation  by 
a  careful  examination  of  the  surroundings. 
Let  us  endeavour  to  see  it  as  He  reveals  it. 

Of  it  he  savs,  "  I  know  " — three  things. 
"  Thv  tribulation,  and  thy  ooverty,  and  the 
blasphemy  of  them  which  say  they  are  Jews, 
and  they  are  not,  but  are  a  synagogue  of 
Satan."    Let  us  mention  these  separately.    "  I 


6o       A  First  Century  Message 

know  thy  tribulation."  "  I  know  thy  poverty." 
"  I  know  the  blasphemy  of  them  which  say 
they  are  Jews  and  they  are  not,  but  are  a 
synagogue  of  Satan."  Tribulation,  poverty, 
reviling.  These  are  the  words  which  reveal 
the  desperate  condition  of  the  church  at  the 
moment  when  the  Master  sent  His  message 
to  them. 

First,  "  I  know  thy  tribulation."  This  is  a 
strong  word,  not  very  often  made  use  of.  It 
signifies  a  pressure  of  persecution.  Jesus  did 
not  say  I  know  thy  trials,  the  occasional  test-- 
ings  of  faith,  those  experiences  which  are  com- 
mon to  all  the  saints  and  necessary  for  their 
perfecting,  but  "  thy  tribulation."  Our  word 
tribulation  suggests  the  stripe  of  the  Roman 
whip,  but  the  word  that  the  Master  used,  sug- 
gested rather  the  pressure  of  the  stones  that 
grind  the  wheat,  or  that  force  the  blood  out  of 
the  grape.  It  is  a  word  that  throbs  with  mean- 
ing. These  people  were  being  pressed  even  to 
death  on  account  of  their  loyalty  to  Christ, 
and  as  He  looks  at  the  church,  He  says  in 
tones  of  infinite  tenderness,  "  I  know  thy  trib- 
ulation." 

And  yet  again,  "  I  know  thy  poverty."  And 
the  word  indicates  actual  beggary.  Here  it 
has  no  reference  to  a  poverty  of  spirit.    In  all 


dp 


The  Smyrna  Letter  6i 

probability  these  people  had  suffered  the  loss 
of  all  things  in  the  persecution  that  had  broken 
out  against  them,  loss  of  trade,  loss  of  social 
position,  loss  almost  of  the  bare  necessaries  of 
life,  reduced  to  beggary,  "  I  know  thy  pov- 
erty." 

And  once  more,  "  I  know  the  blasphemy  of 
them  which  say  they  are  Jews,  and  they  are 
not,  but  are  a  synagogue  of  Satan."  The  use 
of  the  word  blasphemy  is  somewhat  pecuHar 
here.  Evidently  the  Lord  uses  the  word,  not 
in  its  specific  sense  as  against  God,  but  in  its 
simplest  sense,  that  of  vilification  or  reviling. 
Here  the  Master  reveals  His  intimate  knowl- 
edge of  the  causes  from  which  all  the  trouble 
has  proceeded.  In  all  probability  the  vilifying 
of  the  church  by  the  synagogue  had  issued  in 
the  beggary  of  the  little  band  of  Christians  by 
the  pagans  of  Smyrna.  The  members  of  the 
Jewish  synagogue,  hating  the  Christian  dis- 
ciples would  publish  libellous  statements  con- 
cerning them  as  to  their  character,  their  pur- 
pose, and  their  modes  of  life.  The  stories  told 
had  aroused  the  pagan  population,  and  in  all 
likelihood,  there  had  followed  the  confiscation 
of  their  goods  which  had  reduced  them  to  the 
point  of  actual  want.  It  is  profoundly  inter- 
esting to  notice  the  wonderful  similarity  ex- 


62        A  First  Century  Message 

isting  between  the  experience  of  these  people 
at  Smyrna,  and  the  experience  of  the  Lord 
Himself.  The  consciousness  of  this  seems  to 
lie  within  the  phrase  "  which  is  alive  again." 
Before  beginning  to  speak  to  them,  He  re- 
minded them  of  His  own  experience ;  and  de- 
clared to  them  that  He,  having  passed  through 
it,  has  found  it  the  gate  of  life. 

That  through  which  they  are  passing  is  in 
many  senses  almost  identical  with  that 
through  which  He  has  passed.  The  force 
which  encompassed  His  death  was  the  blas- 
phemy of  the  Jews,  acting  upon  a  pagan  na- 
tion, that  stripped  Him  of  all  He  possessed, 
and  gave  Him  only  death.  The  persecution 
that  culminated  in  His  own  passing  had  begun 
within  the  synagogue,  at  the  very  centre  of 
supposed  religion,  and  had  proceeded  along 
the  line  of  pagan  power  to  its  terrible  issue. 

Thus  addressing  these  people  He  says  "  I 
know,''  and  the  force  of  the  word  is  not  merely 
that  He  knows  by  watching,  but  by  His  own 
experience,  not  alone  by  observing  their  suf- 
fering, but  by  having  Himself  passed  through 
the  same  experience.  I  know  for  I  have  ex- 
perienced the  pain  of  vilification,  and  the  want 
of  poverty,  and  the  final  tribulation.  I  know 
all  these  to  their  deepest  depths.     Thus  He 


The  Smyrna  Letter  63 

would  comfort  them  with  a  declaration  of  His 
consciousness  of  their  condition,  and  His  ex- 
perimental sympathy  therewith. 

With  what  summary  conciseness  and  start- 
ling force  He  sums  up  in  a  sentence  the  truth 
concerning  the  condition  of  the  Jews  in 
Smyrna.  They  are  "  a  synagogue  of  Satan," 
and  these  are  they  that  have  persecuted 
His  people.  Mark  the  contrast.  The  church 
in  Smyrna.  A  synagogue  of  Satan.  The 
ecclesia  of  the  living  God,  the  gathered 
out  people.  .  A  synagogue  of  Satan,  the 
gathered  together  forces.  It  is  a  terrible  in- 
dictment, called  forth  by  the  fact  that  they  had 
vilified  His  people,  and  so  had  proved  them- 
selves under  the  leadership  of  the  slanderer 
whose  perpetual  aim  it  is  to  degrade  our  God 
and  His  Christ. 

Thus  He  identified  Himself  with  them  in 
their  sorrow  and  suffering,  and  thus  in  a  sen- 
tence uttered  the  most  severe  condemnation  of 
those  who  were  causing  the  trouble. 

Now  let  us  mark  the  commendation.  First 
the  silence,  and  what  can  be  said  concerning 
silence.  It  is  more  eloquent  than  all  language. 
He  has  no  word  of  complaint  to  utter.  The 
character  and  conduct  of  the  church  at  Smyrna 
was  such  as  perfectly  to  satisfy  the  heart  of 


64       A  First  Century  Message 

the  Lord,  and  how  wonderful  it  is  when  we  re- 
member that  tribulation  and  poverty  and  re- 
viling make  more  terrible  demands  than  any- 
other  circumstances,  upon  the  spirit  of  those 
passing  through  it.  There  is  no  profounder 
proof  of  grace  of  character  than  that  of  being 
able  to  suffer  wrongfully  and  yet  to  manifest 
a  gracious  spirit.  How  often  have  we  all 
fallen  at  that  very  point.  Repeatedly  in  the 
midst  of  suffering  for  righteousness  sake,  we 
have  manifested  unrightness  of  character  and 
of  conduct.  Is  not  that  the  whole  story  of  the 
failure  of  God's  wonderful  servant  Moses. 
"  He  spake  unadvisedly  with  his  lips."  And 
yet  the  people  were  doing  wrong.  There  was 
no  possible  defence  of  their  action,  but  in  the 
presence  of  their  wrong-doing,  he  did  wrong, 
in  that  he  manifested  a  provoked  spirit.  Christ 
watched  these  saints  at  Smyrna,  persecuted, 
beggared,  vilified,  and  yet  had  no  fault  to  find 
with  them.  Their  spirit  under  tribulation  was 
such  as  to  satisfy  the  heart  of  Christ.  The 
finer  graces  of  the  Christian  character  are  only 
revealed  under  bruising  and  pressure,  as  the 
fragrance  of  fine  spices  is  only  obtained 
through  crushing.  Christ  pre-eminently  be- 
came a  sweet  smelling  savour  to  God  through 
the  terrible  experiences  of  the  Cross.    His  un- 


The  Smyrna  Letter  65 

provoked  and  tender  spirit  was  jnost  perfectly- 
seen  amid  the  circumstances  that  were  provo- 
cative of  anger  and  resentment.  So  with  these 
loved  ones  in  Smyrna.  Though  under  press 
and  conflict,  He  found  nothing  to  condemn, 
and  in  the  silence  there  lies  the  highest  eulo- 
gium. 

Of  such  value  is  this  teaching  that  I  pause 
to  make  a  passing  application.  Some  child  of 
God,  whelmed  with  great  and  crushing  sor- 
rows is  longing  for  the  sound  of  His  voice, 
and  there  is  nothing  but  silence.  It  may  be 
that  that  silence  is  a  sign,  not  of  disapproval 
but  of  approval.  Do  not  be  cast  down.  If  in 
the  midst  of  tribulation  and  suffering  there  is 
no  voice,  it  may  be  that  the  silence  of  the  Lord 
is  His  highest  commendation.  There  is  an  old 
and  beautiful  story  of  how  a  nun  dreamed  that 
she  saw  three  other  nuns  at  prayer.  As  they 
kneeled  the  Master  approached  them.  As  He 
came  to  the  first  of  the  three,  He  bent  over 
her  with  tender  solicitude,  and  smiles  full  of 
radiant  love,  speaking  to  her  in  words  of 
softest  tenderest  music.  Leaving  her  and  ap- 
proaching the  next  He  only  placed  His  hand 
upon  her  head,  and  gave  her  one  look  of  tender 
approval.  But  the  third  woman  He  passed  al- 
most abruptly  without  word  or  glance.     The 


66        A  First  Century  Message 

woman  in  her  dream  said  to  herself,  How 
tenderly  the  Lord  must  love  this  first  of  His 
children.  The  second  He  is  not  angry  with, 
and  yet  for  her  has  no  endearments  like  those 
bestowed  upon  the  first.  She  wondered  how 
the  third  had  grieved  Him,  so  that  He  gave 
her  no  look,  no  passing  word.  As  in  her  dream 
she  attempted  to  account  for  the  action  of  the 
Lord,  the  Master  Himself  confronted  her,  and 
addressing  her  said,  "  Oh  woman  of  the  world, 
— how  wrongly  hast  thou  judged.  The  first 
kneeling  woman  needs  all  the  succour  of  My 
constant  care  to  keep  her  feet  in  the  way.  The 
second  has  stronger  faith  and  deeper  love,  but 
the  third  whom  I  seemed  to  pass  abruptly  by, 
has  faith  and  love  of  finest  fibre,  and  her  I  am 
preparing  by  swift  processes  for  highest  and 
holiest  service.  She  knows  and  loves  and 
trusts  Me  so  perfectly  as  to  be  independent  of 
words  or  looks." 

Do  not  therefore  be  surprised  if  you  have  no 
vision.  It  may  be  that  the  vision  granted  is 
after  all  but  proof  of  weakness.  Peter,  James, 
and  John  were  taken  to  behold  the  vision  of 
transfiguration.  The  common  interpretation 
of  this  is  that  they  were  special  apostles  being 
prepared  for  special  service,  and  while  unable 
to  contradict  that,  I  should  not  personally  be 


y 


The  Smyrna  Letter  '**•  "•    67 

surprised  in  the  perfect  day  to  discover  that 
the  reasons  for  the  Master's  special  attention 
were  to  be  found  in  their  weakness  rather  than 
their  strength.  Not  a  word  of  commendation 
did  He  speak  to  the  church  in  Smyrna,  but  a 
great  silence  as  they  passed  through  the  fire 
proved  His  approval  of  the  rightness  of  their 
spirit. 

And  yet  there  was  more  than  the  silence, 
just  that  one  word,  that  flash,  that  gleam  of 
light,  "  but  thou  art  rich."  It  is  as  though  He 
bent  over  them  and  whispered  the  great  truth. 
Smyrna  counts  thee  poor.  I  count  thee  rich. 
The  blasphemy  of  the  Jews  and  the  persecu- 
tion of  pagans  have  robbed  thee  of  everything, 
but  thou  hast  lost  nothing.  I  know  the  pinch 
of  poverty,  I  know  its  pain,  and  yet  I  never 
lost  the  riches  of  spiritual  wealth.  While  I 
was  still  upon  the  earth  a  man,  I  was  a  beg- 
gar, and  yet  My  Father  was  with  Me.  "  I 
know  thy  poverty  (but  thou  art  rich)." 

The  words  recall  to  our  mind,  the  Lord's 
conception  of  riches  as  revealed  in  His  parable 
concerning  the  rich  fool.  He  said  to  himself, 
"  I  will  say  to  my  soul.  Soul,  thou  hast  much 
goods  laid  up  for  many  years."  As  though 
a  life  could  be  fed  with  goods !  And  yet  the 
only  place  of  worship  for  many  is  a  dry  goods 


68       A  First  Century  Message 

store.  Dry  goods  indeed !  At  the  close  of  the 
parable  Jesus  said,  "  So  is  he  that  layeth  up 
treasure  for  himself,  and  is  not  rich  toward 
God."  Of  goods  these  Smyrna  saints  had 
none,  but  they  were  rich  toward  God.  "  I 
know  thy  poverty,"  thou  hast  no  barns,  no 
store-house,  but  thou  hast  all  wealth. 

Again  one  calls  to  mind  the  word  of  James, 
the  practical,  far-seeing  apostle.  "  Did  not 
God  choose  them  that  are  poor  as  to  the  world 
to  be  rich  in  faith."  This  also  is  what  the 
Master  meant.  "  I  know  thy  poverty,"  you 
are  poor  as  to  the  world.  They  have  taken 
everything  from  you,  but  you  are  rich  in  faith, 
in  the  principle  that  possesses  the  unseen  and 
imperishable  things. 

And  yet  again,  the  words  of  Paul  recur. 
His  conception  of  his  own  position  perfectly 
harmonizes  with  the  Lord's  estimate  of  the 
people  in  Smyrna.  "  As  poor  " — so  poor  that 
he  had  to  make  tents  to  live,  so  poor  that 
when  someone  is  coming  to  see  him,  he  has  to 
ask  them  to  bring  that  old  cloak  to  protect  him 
from  the  cold,  and  to  keep  him  warm — "  yet 
making  many  rich  " — so  rich  that  he  is  able  to 
minister  through  tent-making  without  cost,  so 
rich  that  he  is  more  anxious  about  the  parch- 
ments than  about  the  cloak, — "  especially  the 


y 


The  Smyrna  Letter  69 

parchments."  "  As  having  nothing,"  he 
writes,  "  and  yet  possessing  all  things."  "  I 
know  thy  poverty,"  says  Christ,  you  are  poor, 
you  have  nothing,  but  you  are  rich,  enriching 
others,  possessing  all  things. 

All  this  is  intensely  interesting,  but  we  have 
not  yet  touched  the  deepest  note  of  exposition. 
Read  again  the  old  familiar  words  concerning 
the  Master  from  the  writings  of  Paul.  "  For 
ye  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
that,  though  He  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes 
He  became  poor,  that  ye  through  His  poverty 
might  become  rich."  The  words  used  are  ex- 
actly the  same,  the  same  for  "  rich  "  and  the 
same  for  "  poverty."  "  He  became  poor," 
"  I  know  thy  poverty."  "  He  was  rich," 
"  but  thou  art  rich."  "  I  know,  /  know  your 
poverty.  I  have  been  poor  with  the  actual 
poverty  of  beggary,  but  you  are  rich,  for 
through  that  poverty  of  Mine,  you  have  en- 
tered into  that  wealth  of  Mine,  and  even  in 
the  midst  of  all  your  poverty,  you  possess  the 
abiding  wealth.  I  know  your  poverty,  for  I 
have  shared  it.  I  know  your  wealth,  for  I 
have  given  it."  It  is  well  to  remember  that 
the  word  "  rich  "  in  all  these  cases  is  the  actual 
word  which  we  use  of  the  world's  wealth.  It 
is  the  root  word  from  which  we  derive  our 


JO       A  First  Century  Message 

word  plutocrat.  According  to  Christ  then, 
——wealth  is  enrichment  of  character,  not  posses- 
sion of  gold.  He  said  in  effect  to  these  suffer- 
ing people  in  Smyrna,  You  are  the  poorest 
people  in  Smyrna.  You  are  the  plutocrats  of 
Smyrna.  Others  have  the  wealth  of  the  world, 
the  fulness  of  material  things,  but  you  have  the 
true  fulness.  I  love  to  think  of  this  estimate 
of  Christ,  and  to  remember  that  the  saints  of 
—God  are  the  true  aristocrats  and  plutocrats  of 
every  age.  An  aristocrat  is  a  man  of  best 
strength.  A  plutocrat  is  a^juLlman.  The  best 
strength  of  the  nation  is  ever  to  be  found  in  the 
saints  of  Christ.  The  true  fulness  of  the  na- 
tion is  to  be  reckoned  by  the  number  of  its 
men  and  women  who  are  living  in  fellowship 
with  God.  The  riches  of  the  saints  are  the 
riches  that  abide.  The  things  the  Christians 
of  Smyrna  had  lost,  they  must  have  left  behind 
them  ere  long,  when  they  had  passed  from  the 
stage  of  earthly  action.  The  things  that  they 
possessed  became  theirs  in  fullest  measure  only 
through  that  passing.  True  wealth  is  the 
wealth  that  never  tarnishes,  never  decays, 
never  fades.  Oh,  glorious  parenthesis  of 
Jesus,  a  great  silence  of  commendation,  and  a 
parenthesis  of  approbation. 

What  words  of  counsel  then  has  He  to  speak 


The  Smyrna  Letter  71 

to  people  passing  through  such  circumstances  ? 
Mainly  two.  First,  **  Fear  not,"  and  secondly, 
"  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death."  In  reading 
this  epistle  I  think  the  most  startling  thing  to 
me  was  to  discover  that  there  is  not  a  single 
promise  to  them  that  they  should  escape  their 
suffering.  Nay,  He  rather  tells  them  that 
heavier  trials  are  to  come  upon  them,  and  the 
''  fear  not "  is  a  preparatory  word  in  advance 
of  the  present  consciousness  of  need.  He  does 
not  say  "  Fear  not  the  things  which  thou  hast 
suffered,"  but  "  Fear  not  the  things  which  thou 
art  about  to  suffer."  There  is  no  promise  of 
succour.  He  does  not  say.  Never  mind,  these 
things  will  soon  be  over.  He  comes  rather 
with  an  announcement  of  another  sorrow.  Oh, 
the  comfort  of  knowing  that  He  is  acquainted 
-with  the  things  that  are  yet  to  be,  and  that 
facing  them  He  says  "  fear  not."  There  is  no 
sorrow  waiting  for  them  that  He  is  not  ac- 
quainted with.  I  know  thy  present  tribulation. 
I  know  thy  present  poverty,  the  present  blas- 
phemy I  know.  I  know  more.  I  know  what 
lies  hidden  in  the  womb  of  the  future,  that 
"  the  devil  is  about  to  cast  some  of  you  into 
prison,  that  ye  may  be  tried,  and  ye  shall  have 
tribulation  ten  days."  Fear  not  these  things 
then,  the  persecution  will  increase,  the  fear- 


72       A  First  Century  Message 

some  darkness  will  deepen,  tribulation  will  be 
more  severe,  the  pressure  will  yet  be  heavier. 
Fear  not,  and  let  the  first  comforting  thought 
against  fear  be  that  I  know  and  that  I  have 
told  you. 

Then  "  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,"  live 
upon  the  principle  of  faith  even  to  the  bound 
of  death.  The  word  *'  faithful "  here  is  from 
the  root  which  means  to  be  convinced.  Fidel- 
ity is  born  of  conviction,  and  conviction  must 
have  a  groundwork  and  foundation.  What 
then  is  this  faithfulness  enjoined?  The  faith- 
fulness of  the  saints  is  the  assurance  of  the 
faithfulness  of  Jesus.  A  deep  conviction  of 
His  fidelity  produces  their  fidelity.  Wherever 
a  man,  woman,  or  child  under  any  circum- 
stances of  pain  or  testing  is  deeply  convinced 
of  the  fidelity  of  Christ,  they  are  immediately 
and  necessarily  faithful  themselves.  It  is  as 
though  He  had  said  to  them,  You  are  going  to 
be  cast  into  prison,  *'  the  devil  is  about  to  cast 
some  of  you  into  prison,  that  ye  may  be  tried." 
Be  faithful,  believe  still.  Live  within  the  limit 
of  a  great  assurance.  Don't  question  Me,  don't 
doubt  Me,  depend  on  Me.  The  Lord  did  not 
mean.  Gather  yourselves  up  and  go  through. 
He  simply  meant,  Trust  Me.  He  did  not  in- 
tend to  advise  them  to  gird  up  their  loins  and 


The  Smyrna  Letter  73 

be  determined  that  they  would  see  the  business 
through.  That  is  ever  a  poor  and  sorry  way 
of  attempting  to  pass  through  times  of  testing. 
He  meant  rather,  Trust  Me,  let  Me  be  your 
courage.  I  am  alive,  and  I  was  dead.  I  have 
gone  to  the  limit  of  this  matter..  There  is  no 
depth  I  have  not  fathomed,  no  darkness  I 
have  not  penetrated.  Be  faithful,  follow  Me, 
not  in  the  effort  of  a  strenuous  determination, 
but  with  the  ease  of  a  simple  trust. 

Then  the  gracious  promise.  "  I  will  give 
thee  the  crown  of  life,"  and  the  word  is  very 
full  and  very  rich.  This  crown  that  He  prom- 
ises is  the  crown  of  royalty.  It  is  more.  It 
is  the  crown  of  royalty  victorious.  It  is  still 
more.  It  is  the  chaplet  that  adorns  the  brow 
of  the  victor  who  comes  laden  with  spoils,  the 
crown  of  royalty,  the  crown  of  victory,  the 
crown  of  added  wealth.  It  is  the  crown  of  life, 
life  which  reigns  because  it  has  won,  and  reigns 
moreover  in  possession  of  spoils  obtained 
through  conflict.  The  life  is  the  crown.  What 
wondrous  light  this  flings  back  upon  the  pro- 
cess. This  pressure  of  tribulation  is  not  acci- 
dental and  capricious.  Out  of  the  tribulation 
we  shall  have  our  triumph.  Out  of  the  dark- 
ness we  shall  come  to  light.  That  is  the  whole 
philosophy  of  suffering. 


74       A  First  Century  Message 

This  may  be  a  message  to  some  saints  who 
are  being  sorely  tried.  And  yet  are  you  not 
already,  as  the  mists  clear  from  the  valleys, 
finding  your  crown  of  life?  I  think  to-day  I 
see  the  meaning  of  past  mysteries  in  my  own 
life.  Out  of  the  pressure  of  tribulation  we 
extract  the  new  wine  of  the  Kingdom,  and  out 
of  the  deep  dark  death  experience  in  which  the 
devil  sifts  and  tries,  there  breaks  a  new  capac- 
ity, an  enlarged  outlook,  a  new  meaning  in  life, 
a  new  tone  in  the  speech.  Almost  impercepti- 
bly and  yet  surely,  through  the  process  of  pain 
God  is  putting  the  horizon  further  back,  and 
broadening  and  deepening  the  experience  of 
life.  That  is  the  present  value  of  pain,  but 
its  ultimate  value  is  the  fulness  of  which  all 
this  is  but  the  foretelling.  When  presently  all 
the  tribulation  is  passed,  and  the  painful  pro- 
cesses of  the  little  while  are  over,  and  the  last 
grim  pressure  ceases,  then  we  shall  be  crowned 
with  life,  then  we  shall  know  the  meaning  of 
life. 

All  this  must  ever  be  emphasized  by  the 
perpetual  memory  of  the  words  with  which 
Christ  addressed  His  suffering  saints.  Em- 
phasizing His  experimental  acquaintance  with 
the  philosophies,  He  declares  "  I  was  dead,  and 
behold,   I  am  alive."     *'  I  know  thy  tribula- 


The  Smyrna  Letter  75 

tion !  "  Think  of  His  tribulation.  "  I  know  thy 
poverty !  "  Think  of  His  poverty.  "  I  know  the 
revilings  of  them  which  say  they  are  Jews  and 
they  are  not !  "  Think  of  the  revilings  heaped 
upon  Him  by  them  which  said  they  were  Jews. 
"  Fear  not !  "  Think  of  His  unswerving  faith 
in  God.  "  Be  thou  faithful  until  death !  "  See 
Him  faithful  unto  death.  *'  I  will  give  thee  the 
crown  of  life !  "  See  Him  crowned  with  life,  on 
the  resurrection  morning.  This  is  the  heart 
and  centre  of  the  great  truth  delivered  to  the 
suffering  saints  at  Smyrna.  I  am  your  com- 
panion in  distress.  I  am  your  comrade  in  the 
darkness.  I  know,  and  I  am  with  you,  and 
just  beyond  I  will  be  with  you  still,  leading  you 
to  the  fountains  of  living  waters. 

Then  there  was  His  added  promise.  "  He 
that  overcometh  shall  not  be  hurt  of  the  second 
death."  It  always  seems  to  me  as  though  this 
were  an  inferential  note  of  warning  and  threat- 
ening against  the  persecutors.  These  men  of 
Smyrna  will  die,  saints  and  sinners  alike,  but 
beyond  death  is  death.  The  persecutors  of 
Smyrna  will  pass  through  death  to  death.  The 
believers  of  Smyrna  being  faithful  to  death, 
through  death  will  find  no  second  death,  but 
instead  thereof  life.  The  saints  are  rich  in  pov- 
erty.   They  walk  through  darkness  into  light. 


76       A  First  Century  Message 

They  live  beyond  all  death.  As  Christ  holds 
the  keys,  we  see  through  open  doors,  things  as 
they  really  are.  The  great  and  wealthy  men  of 
Smyrna  were  not  the  persecuting  pagans  and 
the  blasphemous  Jews,  but  the  suffering,  tried, 
poverty-stricken  saints,  for  they  were  wealthy 
in  all  essential  things,  and  would  pass  through 
the  pressure  of  death  to  the  realization  of  end- 
less life. 

Let  all  Smyrna  face  death,  but  only 
those  whose  principle  of  life  is  faith  in  Christ 
will  pass  unafraid  through  the  first  to  find  the 
second  abolished. 

Of  this  epistle  there  can  be  no  immediate 
application  to  the  majority  of  those  who  hear 
these  words.  Sometimes  it  seems  as  though 
the  very  reproach  of  Christ  has  almost  ceased. 
I  am  not  sure  that  this  is  a  healthy  sign.  It 
is  doubtful  if  many  people  really  suffer  much 
to-day  for  Christ's  sake.  I  often  hear  men 
speak  of  the  difficulties  of  their  position  in 
business,  of  the  taunts  and  sneers  of  certain 
opposing  ones,  but  are  they  really  serious  when 
they  mention  these  things?  When  we  think 
of  the  actualities  of  the  persecution  in  Smyrna, 
and  of  the  early  days  of  the  Christian  era, 
ought  we  not  to  blush  to  speak  of  suffering 
to-day  ?    And  yet  is  there  not  a  sadness  in  this 


The  Smyrna  Letter  jj 

very  fact  of  absence  of  persecution?  Is  real 
Godliness  more  popular  to-day,  or  is  not  that 
which  is  popular  a  kind  of  hybrid  Christianity  ? 
I  leave  these  questions  for  personal  asking. 

And  yet  there  is  a  sympathetic  application 
of  the  epistle.  During  the  Armenian  massa- 
cres, and  the  martyrdom  of  native  Christians 
in  China,  how  one  has  thanked  God  again  and 
again  for  the  letter  to  Smyrna.  Surely  the 
One  walking  amid  the  lampstands  said  to  all 
these,  as  robbed  of  earthly  possessions,  and 
brutally  deprived  of  life  they  were  still  faith- 
ful to  His  name,  "  I  know  .  .  .  but  thou 
art  rich."  I  think  I  hear  the  voice  of  the 
thorn-crowned  sounding  in  cadences  of  sweet- 
est music  over  the  hills  and  valleys  of  Armenia, 
and  I  think  I  hear  that  self-same  voice,  like  the 
voice  of  many  waters,  breathing  these  words 
of  strength  to  all  His  witnesses  in  China. 
Surely  He  met  them  at  the  portal  of  death, 
and  crowned  them  with  life. 

And  yet  there  is  an  immediate  application  to 
all  those  who  suffer  for  His  name's  sake. 

From  the  meditation,  let  us  gather  one  or 
two  lessons  of  general  import.  First,  outward 
adversity  of  a  church  or  a  people  or  a  person 
IS  not  a  proof  of  essential  poverty  or  weakness. 
It  is  not  always  the  wealthy  church  financially 


yS       A  First  Century  Message 

that  is  the  rich  church.  The  material  wealth 
of  members  does  not  create  the  true  riches  of 
the  church.  How  often  it  has  been  that  some 
struggling  company  of  believers,  fighting  with 
poverty,  contending  for  very  existence,  has 
been  the  truly  rich  and  prosperous  church. 

Then  secondly,  let  us  gather  the  inexpressi- 
ble comfort  that  comes  from  this  revelation  of 
Christ's  identification  with  all  His  suffering 
saints.  Wherever  the  Church  passes  through 
tribulation,  He  stands  and  says  "  I  know." 

And  lastly,  let  us  ever  rejoice  in  His  asser- 
tion that  He  holds  the  keys  of  all  the  things 
that  most  affright  and  oppress  us,  of  the  last 
foes,  of  death  and  of  Hades,  and  the  keys  in 
His  right  hand  are  symbols  of  solution  and 
authority.  As  we  pass  to  the  valley  of  the 
shadow.  He  approaches,  holding  these  keys, 
and  saying,  "  Fear  not,"  I  have  unlocked  the 
problem.  I  have  solved  it,  I  have  been  into 
the  deepest  darkness,  I  know  it.  I  have  not 
borrowed  these  keys.  They  belong  to  Me.  I 
have  them  for  unlocking  and  for  locking. 

Oh,  suffering  saints,  and  all  who  approach 
the  shadow-land,  fear  not,  fear  not!  Trust 
Him  utterly,  be  faithful,  confiding,  even  unto 
death,  and  through  the  dark  chambers  of  death 
and  of  Hades,  He  will  lead  to  light.     Christ 


The  Smyrna  Letter  79 

never  tells  us  not  to  fear,  until  He  Himself  has 
fathomed  all  the  mystery.  I  say  to  my  child 
Do  not  be  afraid,  while  yet  in  my  own  heart 
lurks  a  great  fear  that  I  dare  not  tell  him  of. 
This  Christ  never  does.  He  has  not  fear,  and 
therefore  I  need  not  fear  but  may  sing  with 
the  Psalmist, 

"  Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of 
the  shadow  of  death, 

I  will  fear  no  evil ;   for  Thou  art  with  me : 
Thy  rod  and  Thy  staff,  they  comfort  me." 

He  has  probed  the  shadow  and  the  pain.  Let 
Him  lead  on,  even  through  tribulation  and 
through  death,  to  the  life  and  the  crowning 
that  lie  ahead. 


THE  PERGAMUM  LETTER 


"  And  to  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Pergamum 
write ; 

"  These  things  saith  He  that  hath  the  sharp  two- 
edged  sword:  I  know  where  thou  dwellest,  even 
where  Satan's  throne  is:  and  thou  holdest  fast  My 
name,  and  didst  not  deny  My  faith,  even  in  the  days 
of  Antipas  My  witness,  My  faithful  one,  who  was 
killed  among  you,  where  Satan  dwelleth.  But  I 
have  a  few  things  against  thee,  because  thou  hast 
there  some  that  hold  the  teaching  of  Balaam,  who 
taught  Balak  to  cast  a  stumblingblock  before  the 
children  of  Israel,  to  eat  things  sacrificed  to  idols, 
and  to  commit  fornication.  So  hast  thou  also  some 
that  hold  the  teaching  of  the  Nicolaitans  in  like 
manner.  Repent  therefore;  or  else  I  come  to  thee 
quickly,  and  I  will  make  war  against  them  with  the 
sword  of  My  mouth.  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him 
hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  to  the  churches.  To  him 
that  overcometh,  to  him  will  I  give  of  the  hidden 
manna,  and  I  will  give  him  a  white  stone,  and  upon 
the  stone  a  new  name  written,  which  no  one  knoweth 
but  he  that  receiveth  it."    Rev.  ii:  12-17. 


V 

THE  PERGAMUM  LETTER 

P  ERGAMUM  was  an  illustrious  city  of  My- 
sia,  given  over  almost  entirely  to  wealth 
and  fashion.  Unlike  Ephesus  and  Smyrna,  it 
was  not  a  centre  of  commerce,  ^sculapius, 
the  god  of  medicine,  was  worshipped  there 
under  the  form  of  a  serpent,  and  the  special 
aspect  of  this  worship  was  that  of  the  study 
of  the  secret  springs  of  life,  and  like  all  Nature 
worship,  sincere  as  may  have  been  the  begin- 
nings thereof,  it  had  issued  in  corruption.  This 
fact  may  serve  to  throw  light  upon  some  of 
the  statements  that  occur  in  the  letter. 

We  have  no  account  whatever  of  the  plant- 
ing of  the  church,  and  therefore  can  only  look 
at  it  as  seen  in  the  epistle  now  under  considera- 
tion. 

Christ  speaks  to  the  church  as  the  One  "  that 
hath  the  sharp  two-edged  sword."  That  sword 
as  we  have  seen  is  the  symbol  of  the  discerning 
and  executive  power  of  truth.  The  fitness  of 
this  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  church  is  harbour- 
ing error.  Not  that  the  church  has  itself 
83 


84       A  First  Century  Message 

adopted  the  teaching,  nor  that  she  has  as  a 
corporate  whole,  committed  herself  to  these 
heresies,  but  she  has  become  guilty  of  Broad 
^hurchism,  attempting  to  find  room  within 
her  pale  for  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  and 
fj^iths. 

Approaching  the  church  as  the  One  from 
Whose  mouth  proceeds  the  sword.  He  comes  to 
deal  with  the  false  teachers  within  it. 

First  let  us  notice  His  commendation.  "  I 
know  where  thou  dwellest,  even  where  Satan's 
throne  is :  and  thou  boldest  fast  My  name,  and 
didst  not  deny  My  faith,  even  in  the  days  of 
Antipas  My  witness.  My  faithful  one,  who 
was  killed  among  you,  where  Satan  dwelleth." 
The  Lord  recognizes  the  peculiar  dangers  and 
difficulties  surrounding  these  people.  The  un- 
derlying suggestion  of  the  commendation  is 
that  it  is  an  honourable  thing  to  have  held  fast 
His  name,  and  not  have  denied  His  faith.  The 
inference  is  that  if  there  was  any  place  that  it 
might  have  been  probable  that  people  should 
have  ceased  to  hold  His  name,  it  would  have 
been  in  these  peculiar  and  difficult  circum- 
stances in  which  the  church  at  Pergamum 
found  itself  at  the  time. 

The  commendation  consists  in  the  twofold 
statement.     "  Thou  boldest   fast  My   name," 


The  Pergamum  Letter         85 

"  Thou  didst  not  deny  My  faith."  "  My  name, 
My  faith."  And  the  emphasis  of  the  com- 
mendation is  discovered  by  consideration  of 
the  pecuHar  perils  threatening  these  people. 
"  I  know  where  thou  dwellest."  That  state- 
ment in  itself  is  full  of  comfort.  In  every 
circumstance  of  trial  and  tribulation  and  perse- 
cution and  peril,  we  may  hear  the  words  of 
the  Master,  "  I  know  where  thou  dwellest." 

In  this  case  the  place  is  described  by  the 
startling  phrase,  "  Where  Satan's  throne  is." 
Satan  has  ever  some  base  of  operation,  some 
central  place  for  his  throne.  It  is  very  diffi- 
cult to  refer  to  Satan  without  wanting  to  say 
a  great  deal  about  him,  and  much  needs  to  be 
said  in  these  days ;  and  in  a  study  of  this  epistle 
it  is  necessary  to  pause  for  a  little  upon  this 
subject.  Wasting  no  time  over  arguments 
concerning  the  personality  of  Satan,  but  ac- 
cepting that  as  an  established  fact,  there  re- 
mains certain  co-related  facts  which  need  re- 
statement. First,  Satan  is  not  God,  and  there- 
fore neither  has  he  any  of  the  essential  powers 
of  Deity.  He  is  neither  omniscient,  omnipres- 
ent, nor  omnipotent.  He  does  not  know  as 
God  knows.  He  is  not  everywhere  as  God  is 
everywhere.  He  is  not  all-powerful  as  God  is 
all-powerful.    He  is  a  fallen  angel,  "  Lucifer, 


86       A  First  Century  Message 

son  of  the  morning,  how  art  thou  fallen."  In 
his  fall  and  degradation,  he  has  retained  all  the 
essential  capacities  of  his  unfallen  state.  The 
wisdom,  the  possibility  of  locomotion,  and  the 
marvellous  power,  which  were  his  before  he 
fell,  are  his  to-day,  but  he  is  not  God.  He 
dragged  with  him  in  that  awful  fall  hosts  of 
the  bright  ones,  and  with  the  marvellous  wis- 
dom of  that  unfallen  nature,  now  prostituted 
to  base  uses,  he  marshalls  them  for  the  doing 
of  his  work.  To  state  the  case  bluntly,  if  the 
devil  is  here,  he  is  not  there.  If  the  devil  is 
there  he  is  not  here.  His  messengers  cover 
all  countries,  and  include  all  ranks  of  life  in 
their  operations,  and  these  ramifications  of  evil 
are  under  the  supreme  control  of  Satan,  who 
is  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  the  god 
of  this  world,  the  son  of  the  morning,  fallen 
as  lightning  from  heaven.  For  the  carrying 
out  of  his  enterprises  in  the  world,  he  has 
somewhere  a  place  where  his  throne  is,  a  base 
of  operations.  It  may  be  that  he  has  more 
than  one  such  centre,  and  he  himself  will  pass 
from  point  to  point  with  the  rapidity  of  light- 
ning. He  is  ubiquitous,  as  we  use  the  word  of 
a  general  who,  on  the  field  of  battle  seems  to  be 
here,  there,  and  everywhere,  only  more  so.  He 
is  not  omnipresent  as  God  is  without  motion 


The  Pergamum  Letter         87 

and  without  effort.  At  the  time  of  the  wri- 
ting of  this  letter,  for  some  strategic  reason  of 
his  own,  he  had  his  seat  at  Pergamum.  The 
Master  knew  it  and  indicated  it.  Truly  the 
devil  manifests  a  great  deal  more  wisdom  than 
Christian  people  very  often.  His  throne  will 
be  at  some  strategic  point  from  which  he  can 
best  use  his  influence.  Almost  invariably  that 
throne  is  at  the  centre  of  worldliness  and 
worldly  greatness.  Wherever  his  throne  is,  is 
a  place  of  peculiar  peril.  As  it  has  been  force- 
fully said,  "  In  the  greatest  centres  of  worldly 
power,  there  his  eye  more  peculiarly  watches, 
his  energy  more  peculiarly  acts,  his  influence 
more  peculiarly  emanates." 

Now  this  was  the  peril  of  the  church  at 
Pergamum.  In  Smyrna  it  was  "  a  synagogue 
of  Satan."  In  Pergamum  it  is  the  "  throne  of 
Satan."  In  Smyrna  opposition  to  the  Chris- 
tian Church  was  veiled  behind  religion.  The 
devil  operated  through  the  Jewish  synagogue, 
and  Christ  with  infinite  scorn  and  contempt, 
spoke  of  that  religious  centre  as  the  "  syna- 
gogue of  Satan."  In  Pergamum  it  is  quite 
a  different  matter.  Satan's  throne  is  there, 
and  the  peril  that  threatens  the  church  is  not 
so  much  that  of  direct  opposition  as  that  of 
patronage.     "  Where   Satan's  throne  is,"  the 


88        A  First  Century  Message 

saints  are  in  peril  of  entering  into  alliance  with 
the  forces  under  his  control. 

The  history  of  evil  I  think  will  prove  the 
assertion  that  Satan  loves  to  have  his  seat  in 
the  midst  of  worldly  wealth,  and  all  that  stands 
for  the  feeding  of  the  flesh  life  in  men.  The 
Master  did  not  say  to  men  what  we  often  say, 
"  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  the  devil."  I  do 
not  question  the  accuracy  of  that  statement, 
but  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  Master  said, 
"  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  Mammon."  Thus 
He  revealed  the  antithesis  between  the  two 
great  forces  which  govern  human  lives,  God 
and  Mammon.  God  governs  man  through  the 
spiritual  side  of  man's  nature,  and  man  can 
only  be  governed  in  the  highest  aspects  of  his 
life  when  he  is  so  governed.  Mammon,  which 
stands  for  all  the  worldly  power  and  worldly 
greatness,  the  things  which  the  men  of  the 
world  value,  as  a  governing  force  issues  in  the 
degradation  of  man,  proving  he  cannot  be  per- 
fectly governed  in  flesh  by  the  things  that 
minister  to  flesh.  The  devil  lurks  behind  Mam- 
mon, sets  his  throne  up  at  the  point  where  it 
gathers  its  force,  and  from  there  rules  men. 
If  you  think  to-day  for  a  single  moment  of  the 
great  evils  that  are  blighiiing  our  lands,  and 
if  you  take  time  to  think  far  enough  back  in 


The  Pergamum  Letter         89 

the  history  of  these  things,  you  will  discover 
that  the  invariable  impulse  of  evil  is  Mammon, 
and  the  love  of  gold.  Behind  the  drink  traffic, 
behind  the  unholy  and  iniquitous  crowding  of 
the  poor  into  dwellings  of  which  our  cities 
ought  to  be  ashamed,  behind  the  breath  of 
vile  impurity  that  spoils  life  as  it  passes  across 
it,  is  Mammon,  the  love  of  gold;  and  behind 
that,  using  and  manipulating  it,  the  devil  sits 
upon  the  throne  of  power. 

The  peril  which  ever  threatens  a  church 
situated  in  such  a  city  is  that  it  may 
enter  into  alliance  with  Mammon,  and  so  pass 
under  the  control  of  Satan.  Pergamum  was 
perhaps  the  wealthiest  city  of  the  seven,  and 
there  was  Satan's  throne,  the  base  of  his  opera- 
tions, the  place  from  which  he  governed  the 
goings  of  evil  in  that  whole  district.  If  you 
ask  me  where  Satan's  throne  is  in  England, 
I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  it  is  in  London. 
If  you  ask  me  where  his  throne  is  in  America, 
it  would  be  difficult  to  answer,  for  there  seem 
to  be  several  places,  one  in  the  East  at  least, 
one  in  the  middle  West,  a  strategic  point,  and 
others  there  may  be  on  the  far  West  coast, 
where  the  gates  are  opening  towards  yet  fur- 
ther enterprises.  Be  sure  of  this  that  where 
the  excellencies  of  God's  earth  create  special 


90       A  First  Century  Message 

possibilities  for  man's  abuse,  there  the  devil 
sets  his  throne. 

Having  recognized  this  peril,  let  us  now  no- 
I  tice  the  commendation.  "  Thou  boldest  fast 
My  name."  Christ's  name  is  ever  the  symbol 
of  His  nature,  and  this  first  word  of  com- 
mendation declares  that  the  church  at  Perga- 
mum  has  been  loyal  to  the  Person  of  Christ. 
There  had  been  no  denying  of  any  part  of  the 
strange  and  mystic  fact  of  His  personality,  that 
personality  that  can  be  compared  to  nothing, 
and  that  can  have  nothing  compared  to  it.  His 
name  stands  for  a  Person  utterly  separated 
from  all  others,  and  utterly  unlike  them  in  its 
totality,  while  akin  to  God  and  man  in  its 
duality.  Christ  says  You  have  not  denied  My 
name.  You  are  loyal  to  the  central  fact  of 
Christianity.  Thou  boldest  fast  My  name, 
which  is  the  sign  and  symbol  of  My  nature. 

Again,  "Thou  didst  not  deny  My  faith." 
Note  specially  that  He  does  not  say.  You  have 
not  denied  your  own  faith,  but  "  My  faith." 
In  the  letter  to  the  Hebrews  the  writer  speaks 
of  Jesus  as  being  the  '*  Author  and  Finisher," 
not  of  our  faith,  but  "  of  faith."  That  is  to 
say,  He  lived  and  wrought  upon  the  principle 
of  faith,  and  through  His  victory,  was  the 
Author  or  the  File-leader,  as  the  word  literally 


The  Pergamum  Letter         91 

IS,  and  Perfector,  or  Vindicator  of  faith  as  a 
principle  of  life.  The  faith  of  man  exercised 
in  His  victory,  is  response  to  His  faith.  The 
fact  that  the  church  at  Pergamum  had  not 
denied  the  faith,  indicates  that  they  were  loyal, 
not  only  to  the  Person  of  Christ,  but  that  they 
evidently  rested  in  His  accomplished  purpose. 
His  faith  had  operated  to  perfect  realization  of 
a  Divine  purpose  of  redemption.  Their  faith 
operated  in  Him  for  the  appropriation  of  that 
redemption.  The  redemption  was  that  of  re- 
generation as  justification,  renewal  as  sancti- 
fication,  realization  as  glorification.  The  force 
that  was  sufficient  to  bring  Him  to  victory  was 
that  of  His  faith  in  God  and  His  faith  in  men, 
faith,  that  is,  in  the  wisdom  and  the  love  of 
God,  and  in  the  possibility  of  man  brought 
under  the  influence  of  that  wisdom  and  that 
love.  This  was  the  mighty  principle  that  bore 
Him  up  and  carried  Him  on,  until  His  faith, 
triumphant  even  over  death,  became  the  life 
principle  for  ruined  men,  and  their  faith  centred 
upon  His  victory,  appropriated  the  value  of 
His  faith.  His  faith  would  have  been  denied 
by  their  lack  of  faith  in  Him.  On  the  other 
hand.  His  faith  is  affirmed  by  that  confidence 
in  Him  which  created  their  character,  and  is- 
sued   in   conduct.      "  Thou   boldest   fast   My 


92       A  First  Century  Message 

name  "  is  the  commendation  of  Christ  upon  the 
loyalty  of  the  men  of  Pergamum  to  His  Per- 
son; the  pecuHar,  separate,  unique  Person  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  one  and  only  Person  of  His 
order  that  the  world  has  ever  seen.  The  name 
of  Jesus  stands  for  His  personality,  for  the 
human  and  the  Divine,  for  the  Divine  and  the 
human,  for  that  strange  mysterious  combina- 
tion that  has  baffled  the  theology  of  every  suc- 
cessive century,  and  concerning  which  no  final 
word  has  yet  been  said  because  no  final  word 
can  ever  be  said,  because  no  finite  mind  can 
grasp  the  infinite  mystery  of  God  incarnate. 
To  that  name  these  men  had  held  fast. 

"  Thou  didst  not  deny  My  faith,"  indicates 
their  confidence  in  His  mission,  confidence  in 
His  atoning  work.  His  name  marks  the  glory 
of  His  Person.  His  faith  marks  the  perfection 
of  His  purpose.  It  was  a  wonderful  testimony 
that  the  Master  bore  to  this  church  at  Perga- 
mum, where  Satan's  throne  was,  the  centre  of 
wealth  and  power,  the  home  of  mystic  thought 
and  occult  study.  The  church  had  been  loyal 
to  the  Person  of  Christ,  more  mysterious  than 
the  mysteries  of  Pergamum,  loyal  to  the  faith 
of  Christ,  bringing  men  to  the  true  springs  of 
life,  which  these  dwellers  in  the  wealthy  city 


The  Pergamum  Letter        93 

were  professing  to  give  themselves  over  to  dis- 
cover. 

Now  mark  His  complaint.     "  But  I  have  a 
few   things   against   thee,   because   thou   hast 
there  some  that  hold  the  teaching  of  Balaam, 
who  taught  Balak  to  cast  a  stumblingblock  be-  %^ 
fore  the  children  of  Israel,  to  eat  things  sac- 
rificed to  idols,   and  to  commit  fornication." 
That  is  one  thing.     "  So  hast  thou  also  some 
that  hold  the  teaching  of  the  Nicolaitans  in 
like  manner."    That  is  the  second  thing.     Let 
us  examine  them  for  they  reveal  one  great  fact 
to  which  the  Lord  objects  in  this  church  at 
Pergamum.    It  is  necessary  that  we  note  care- 
fully what  is  here  said.     A  very  tender  and 
delicate  distinction  is  drawn  between  the  church 
and  certain  persons  within  the  church.    He  has 
something  against  the  church,  but  He  is  care- 
ful to  show  that  it  is  not  that  the  church  holds 
the  false  doctrine,  but  that  she  has  fellowship 
with  those  who  do.    Not  "  I  have  a  few  things 
against  thee,  because  thou  boldest  the  teach- 
ing of  Balaam,"  but  "I  have  a  few  things 
against   thee,   because   thou   hast   there   some 
that  hold  the  teaching  of  Balaam."    The  church 
was  loyal  to  the  mission  of  Christ,  and  did  not 
deny  the  faith,  but  what  He  had  against  them 


94       A  First  Century  Message 

was  that  they  were  tolerating  false  views. 
What  the  church  lacked  was  discipline.  What 
cursed  the  church  was  a  false  charity.  For 
the  emphasis  of  this  point  notice  the  closing 
words  of  the  Master,  "  Repent  therefore ;  or 
else  I  come  to  thee  quickly,  and  I  will  make 
war  against  them  with  the  sword  of  My 
mouth."  With  great  delicacy  and  fine  distinc- 
tion He  draws  the  line  between  the  church  and 
those  holding  the  false  doctrine,  and  yet  He 
now  declares  it  as  being  against  the  whole 
church,  that  it  tolerates  these  people  within  its 
borders. 

What  then  is  the  doctrine  which  is  being 
tolerated  and  to  which  our  Lord  takes  objec- 
tion ?  "  Some  that  hold  the  teaching  of 
Balaam,  who  taught  Balak  to  cast  a  stumbling- 
block  before  the  children  of  Israel,  to  eat  things 
sacrificed  to  idols,  and  to  commit  fornication." 
What  is  this  teaching  of  Balaam  ?  Let  us  look 
very  carefully  at  the  structure  of  the  state- 
ment. "  I  have  a  few  things  against  thee,  be- 
cause thou  hast  there  some  that  hold  the  teach- 
ing of  Balaam  " — and  then  there  really  follows 
a  parenthesis — "  who  taught  Balak  to  cast  a 
stumblingblock  before  the  children  of  Israel." 
Omit  the  parenthesis,  and  then  read  the  state- 
ment.   "  I  have  a  few  things  against  thee,  be- 


g6       A  First  Century  Message 

book  of  Numbers,  chapters  twenty-two  to 
twenty-four,  and  at  the  end  of  the  twenty- 
fourth  chapter  it  would  appear  as  though  that 
story  is  conchided,  but  it  is  not.  Let  me  in 
few  words  epitomize  the  whole  story. 

Balak,  the  king  of  Moab,  a  man  under  the 
influence  of  the  sophistries  and  incantations  of 
a  certain  class  of  men,  sent  for  Balaam.  He 
wanted  Balaam  to  curse  the  nation  that  had 
come  up  out  of  Egypt,  believing  that  a  curse 
pronounced  would  work  ruin  upon  Israel.  We 
do  not  know  who  Balaam  was.  When  Balak 
sent  for  him,  it  was  that  he  might  hire  him. 
That  word  "  hire  "  must  be  carefully  remem- 
bered in  the  study.  He  offered  him  reward 
if  he  would  curse  Israel. 

Now  what  happened  ?  God  appeared  to  Ba- 
laam and  warned  him  not  to  go.  Balak  sent 
his  princes  back  to  Balaam,  offering  him  silver 
and  gold  and  honours  if  he  would  but  come. 
Balaam,  lured  by  the  hire,  started,  and  on  his 
way  encountered  that  remarkable  incident  of 
the  appearance  of  the  angel,  and  the  speech  of 
the  dumb  ass.  The  result  of  Balaam's  conver- 
sation with  the  angel  was  that  the  angel  warned 
him  not  to  go.  Balaam  terrified,  offered  to  go 
back,  but  now  the  ang-el  said  You  must  go 
forward.     He  came  to  Balakj  and  on  a  high 


The  Pergamum  Letter         95 

cause  thou  hast  there  some  that  hold  the  teach- 
ing of  Balaam,  to  eat  things  sacrificed  to  idols, 
and  to  commit   fornication." 

Now  is  it  to  be  understood  that  the 
Master  meant  that  Balaam's  teaching  was  that 
men  were  to  eat  things  sacrificed  to  idols,  and 
to  commit  fornication?  I  think  not,  although 
they  are  the  exact  things  which  logically  fol- 
lowed the  teaching  of  Balaam,  and  exactly  the 
same  perils  which  threatened  the  church  at 
Pergamum. 

May  we  not  reverently  attempt  to  para- 
phrase the  words  of  Christ,  so  that  their  mean- 
ing may  be  clearer  to  us?  It  is  as  though  He 
had  said,  This  is  what  I  have  against  thee. 
You  have  people,  who  in  order  that  they  may 
eat  of  the  things  sacrificed  to  idols,  and  in  order 
that  they  may  indulge  in  the  sin  of  fornication, 
are  holding  a  doctrine  which  excuses  the 
actual  wrong.  The  wrong  thing  is  the  sacrific- 
ing to  idols  and  the  fornication,  but  behind  the 
wrong  conduct  is  the  wrong  creed,  and  they 
are  holding  the  doctrine  of  Balaam  in  order 
to  excuse  or  justify  conduct  which  is  wrong. 

If  this  be  the  interpretation  then  it  remains 
that  we  should  ask.  What  was  the  teaching  of 
Balaam,  which  made  possible  such  awful  con- 
duct ?    The  story  of  Balaam  is  contained  in  the 


The  Pergamum  Letter         97 

mountain  seven  sacrifices  were  offered,  and 
he  opened  his  mouth  to  curse,  and  instead 
spoke  words  of  blessing.  Balak  took  him  to 
yet  another  mountain,  with  a  Hke  result.  He 
hoped  that  a  third  place  might  bring  the  de- 
sired cursing  and  again  the  sevenfold  sacrifice 
was  offered,  and  Balaam  spoke.  There  are 
however,  no  prophecies  in  the  whole  book  of 
God  more  wonderfully  beautiful  than  the  things 
that  then  fell  from  his  lips. 

The  anger  of  Balak  was  naturally  then 
kindled,  and  he  said  I  called  you  to  curse, 
and  behold,  thou  hast  altogether  blessed  them 
these  three  times.  He  rid  himself  of  Balaam, 
who  returned  home.  So  ends  the  twenty- 
fourth   chapter. 

What  then  is  the  doctrine  of  Balaam? 
Now  the  fact  is  that  it  has  not  appeared 
at  all  in  the  story  as  contained  in  these 
chapters.  To  discover  it  we  must  pass  into 
chapter  twenty-five,  and  there  we  read  these 
startling  words,  "  And  Israel  abode  in  Shittim, 
and  the  people  began  to  commit  whoredom 
with  the  daughters  of  Moab  " — that  is,  with 
the  daughters  of  this  king  Balak,  and  his  peo- 
ple. Now  specially  notice,  "for  they" — that 
is  the  children  of  Moab,  and  the  daughters  of 
Moab,  "  called  the  people  unto  the  sacrifices  of 


98       A  First  Century  Message 

their  gods;  and  the  people  did  eat,  and  bowed 
down  to  their  gods.  And  Israel  joined  himself 
unto  Baal-peor;  and  the  anger  of  the  Lord  zuas 
kindled  against  Israel/'  Now  this  is  the 
strangest  thing  possible.  Balaam,  instead  of 
cursing  the  people  had  blessed  them,  and  the 
next  thing  we  read  is  that  these  very  peo- 
ple Moab  wanted  to  destroy,  are  enticed  to  the 
lewd  feasts  of  Moab,  and  to  all  the  awful  cor- 
ruption that  follows  upon  such  a  proceeding. 
How  has  this  come  about  ?  The  answer  is  to 
be  found  by  passing  still  further  to  the  thirty- 
third  chapter,  of  the  book  of  Numbers,  and 
the  sixteenth  verse,  and  in  the  words  therein 
contained,  the  whole  mystery  is  solved.  Moses 
is  speaking,  and  he  says,  ""  Behold,  these/'  that 
is,  the  women  of  Moab,  '"  caused  the  children 
of  Israel,  through  the  counsel  of  Balaam,  to 
commit  trespass  against  the  Lord,  in  the  mat- 
ter of  Peor."  Here  we  touch  the  secret  of  the 
whole  thing,  and  it  is  a  startling  revelation. 
It  is  evident  that  when  Balaam  utterly  failed  to 
curse,  he  went  home  with  the  lust  of  hire  still 
in  his  heart,  and  began  to  corrupt  Israel. 
This  he  did  by  persuading  them  to  social 
alliances  with  Moab,  saying  that  according  to 
thvi  prophecy  he  had  been  forced  to  utter,  Moab 
would  be  unable  to  harm  them. 


The  Pergamum  Letter 

The  doctrine  of  Balaam  broadly  stated  was 
undoubtedly  that  seeing  that  they  were  the 
covenant  people  of  God,  they  might  with  safety 
indulge  themselves  in  social  intercourse  with 
their  neighbours,  for  no  harm  could  happen  to 
them.  Both  Peter  and  Jude  refer  to  Balaam, 
and  they  both  tell  us  that  the  motive  of  his 
teaching  was  that  of  hire,  but  neither  of  them 
declare  what  the  teaching  was.  There  can  be 
no  reasonable  doubt  that  in  effect  his  declara- 
tion to  the  children  of  Israel  was  that  their 
covenant  with  God  was  so  sure,  as  would  wit- 
ness the  blessing  he  had  been  compelled  to 
pronounce,  that  they  need  not  be  anxious  about 
their  conduct. 

His  teaching  issued,  as  Jesus  says,  in  the 
eating  of  things  sacrificed  to  idols,  and  the 
committing  of  fornication.  It  was  the  perilous 
and  damnable  heresy  that  sin  cannot  violate  a 
covenant. 

Then  a  second  fact  in  the  complaint,  "  So 
hast  thou  also  some  that  hold  the  teaching  of 
the  Nicolaitans  in  like  manner."  What  that 
doctrine  was  I  do  not  profess  to  know,  but  I 
know  its  issue,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  the 
words  "  in  like  manner,"  do  not  refer  to  the 
similarity  between  the  teaching  of  the  Nicolai- 
tans, and  that  of  Balaam,  rather  than  to  the 


loo     A  First  Century  Message 

fact  that  men  held  that  doctrine,  as  well  as  the 
other.  Technically  there  may  have  been  a 
difference.    The  issue  of  both  was  the  same. 

What  then  was  the  danger  in  the  church  at 
Pergamum?  There  were  persons  associated 
with  the  church,  who  held  a  doctrine  which 
gave  them  license  to  indulge  in  sins  which  were 
the  special  peril  of  all  life  in  Pergamum.  There 
was  the  splendour  of  a  great  temple  worship, 
with  its  seductive  feasts,  and  impure  gaieties. 
This  question  of  things  sacrificed  to  idols,  and 
of  fornication  had  arisen  long  before,  and  had 
been  remitted  to  a  special  council  of  the  church 
at  Jerusalem.  The  story  of  that  council  is  re- 
corded in  the  Acts,  chapter  fifteen.  Its  de- 
cision was  that  while  they  did  not  desire  to  in- 
sist upon  the  rite  of  circumcision,  they  charged 
the  Christians  dwelling  in  these  Asiatic  cities 
that  they  should  not  eat  things  sacrificed  to 
idols,  nor  commit  fornication.  In  the  first  letter 
to  the  Corinthians,  beginning  with  the  sixth 
chapter,  the  apostle  deals  with  this  very  sub- 
ject of  fornication,  and  of  things  sacrificed 
to  idols,  and  he  distinctly  forbids  them  on 
apostolic  authority,  not  merely  to  the  one 
church  at  Corinth,  but  to  all  the  churches  of 
the  district,  for  note  well  these  words,  "  And 
so  ordain  I  in  all  the  churches."     Thus  that 


The  Pergamum  Letter       loi 

church  had  the  definite  teaching  of  the  apostle 
that  it  was  wrong  to  eat  the  things  sacrificed  to 
idols,  and  yet  it  was  tolerating  persons  who 
were  finding  a  way  to  excuse  these  popular  sins 
of  the  city.  They  held  fast  the  name,  they  did 
not  deny  the  faith,  but  they  put  false  emphasis 
upon  the  value  of  the  name,  and  false  applica- 
tion of  the  force  of  the  faith,  claiming  that 
these  things  were  of  such  value  and  such  force 
as  to  cover  and  make  of  no  vital  importance 
certain  forms  of  popular  wrong  doing.  Thus 
there  was  heresy  in  that  church  at  Pergamum, 
the  heresy  which  has  come  to  be  known  in  later 
days  as  the  Antinpmian  heresy,  the  heresy 
which  says,  You  are  so  safe  in  the  name  and 
in  the  faith,  that  it  matters  little  about  your 
conduct.  You  may  mix  with  the  sinners  of 
Pergamum,  and  follow  their  habits,  and  yet 
share  the  benefits  of  the  covenant.  This  is  the 
teaching  of  Balaam,  and  it  had  its  recrudes- 
cence in  the  church  at  Pergamum. 

The  Lord  is  terribly  severe  in  His  denuncia- 
tion. The  church  at  Pergamum  in  its  cor- 
porate capacity  had  not  indulged  in  these  for- 
bidden sins,  neither  endorsed  the  teaching  of 
Balaam.  Its  fault  lay  in  its  lack  of  discipline, 
in  that  it  tolerated  within  its  borders  those 
holding  the  doctrine.     The  whole  church  did 


I02     A  First  Century  Message 

not  hold  the  doctrine,  but  for  some  mistaken 
idea  of  expediency  and  poHcy,  these  people 
were  permitting  those  who  did  hold  it,  to  re- 
main in  fellowship.  Said  Christ,  Thou  hast 
them  there.  Thou  art  tolerating  the  people 
who  hold  the  doctrine,  which  can  only  issue  in 
moral  corruption. 

Turn  now  to  the  counsel.  "  Repent."  This 
word  is  addressed  not  to  the  people  holding  the 
doctrine,  but  to  the  church  and  to  the  angel. 
In  what  sense  then  can  they  repent  ?  The  only 
repentance  possible  to  the  church  was  that  of 
the  exclusion  from  its  fellowship  of  the  persons 
who  held  the  pernicious  teaching.  That  doc- 
trine must  not  be  tolerated.  The  warning  is 
very  solemn.  "  I  will  make  war  against  them 
with  the  sword  of  My  mouth."  Unless  you 
exercise  your  discipline  as  a  church,  and  ex- 
clude these  people,  I  will  come  and  fight  against 
them. 

What  an  inference  of  love  lies  behind 
this  threat.  It  is  as  thoug-h  the  Lord  would 
say,  *  Discipline  these  people,  for  the  judgment 
will  be  swift  and  heavy,  if  they  are  not  ex- 
cluded.' For  the  sake  of  the  men  that  hold 
pernicious  doctrine,  they  should  be  excluded 
from  the  church.  There  are  men  in  the  borders 
of  our  churches  to  whom  we  are  doing  incal- 


The  Pergamum  Letter       103 

culable  harm  by  allowing  them  to  remain  there. 
We  allow  them  to  remain  and  they  imagine 
that  they  are  in  a  place  of  safety,  when  they 
are  in  the  place  of  death.    We  are  sometimes 
inclined  to  treat  this  warning  as  though  it  were 
not  alarming,  but  I  want  to  say  that  it  is  one  of 
the  most  solemn  in  all  these  epistles.     It  is  a 
warning  that  the  Lord  Jesus  will  come,  and 
by  exercise  of  righteous  judgment,   will  re-  / 
move  what  the  church  itself  refuses  to  remove.  ^ 
The  supreme  illustration  of  the  solemnity  of  it 
is   to   be   found   in  the   letter   to  the   church 
at  Corinth,  where  disorders  had  arisen,  and 
Paul  wrote  words  that  must  have  made  men 
tremble  before  them  as  to  what  should  be  done 
with  the  wrongdoers.    In  that  same  epistle  you 
will  find  that  the  apostle  marks  this  solemn 
fact,  that  Jesus  Christ,  in  dealing  in  judgment 
with  a  church,  has  before  now  had  to  remove 
by  death  the  wrong-doers  for  the  purification 
of  the  church,  and  for  the  making  possible  for 
its  testimony  of  light  in  the  midst  of  the  dark- 
ness of  the  age.    If  therefore  I  understand  this 
message  of  the  letter  to  the  church  at  Perga- 
mum, it  is  as  though  the  Lord  had  said,  Un- 
less you  repent  and  deal  in  discipline  with  these 
men,  I  must  fight  against  them  with  the  sword 
of  My  mouth,   and  that  sword  will  not  be 


I04     A  First  Century  Message 

found  to  be  the  method  of  argument,  or  a  new 
enunciation  of  truth.  It  will  be  a  judgment 
swift  and  sure  upon  the  evil  workers,  in  order 
that  the  church  itself  may  be  free  and  may  be 
pure. 

Then  the  Lord,  in  Whose  heart  there  was 
a  great  tenderness  ,even  toward  thie  evil 
doers,  utters  His  promise.  "To  him  that 
overcometh,  to  him  will  I  give  of  the  hid- 
den manna."  That  is  the  first  half  of  the 
promise,  Divine  sustenance.  And  why  did 
Jesus  speak  of  it  as  manna?  Because  manna, 
was  Divinely  supplied,  and  yet  had  to  be  hu- 
manly gathered.  Hidden  manna,  the  Word  of 
God  upon  which  man  lives,  as  against  the  doc- 
trine of  Balaam,  in  accepting  which  man  per- 
ishes. The  true  bread,  the  bread  of  Hfe.  The 
applicability  of  this  promise  to  these  people 
is  seen  when  it  is  remembered  how  the  very 
heart  of  the  false  religion  of  Pergamum  con- 
sisted in  the  attempt  to  feed  upon  secret  mys- 
teries of  life.  To  those  who  overcome  these 
subtle  temptations,  the  Master  promises  that 
they  shall  feed  upon  hidden  manna. 

And  then  the  other  portion  of  that  sweet 
promise.  "  To  him  that  overcometh  .  .  . 
I  will  give  him  a  white  stone,  and  upon  the 
stone    a    new    name    written,    which    no  one 


The  Pergamum  Letter       105 

knoweth  but  he  that  receiveth  it."  The  sug- 
gestiveness  of  that  white  stone  is  not  perfectly 
clear.  There  have  been  many  interpretations. 
Personally  I  would  be  inclined  to  think  that 
they  all  have  some  value.  From  them  let  me 
select  four. 

The  white  stone  was  given  to  a  man  who 
after  trial  was  justly  acquitted,  and  went  forth 
clear  from  condemnation.  The  white  stone  was 
given  to  one  who,  returning  from  battle,  having 
won  victories,  bore  his  triumphs  with  him.  It 
was  the  reward  of  victory.  The  white  stone 
was  sometimes  given  to  a  man  as  the  token 
that  he  was  made  a  free  man  of  the  city.  It 
indicated  his  free  citizenship.  ' 

And  yet  there  is  one  other  meaning,  per- 
haps more  beautiful  than  all,  very  sweet  and 
tender.  There  was  the  white  stone  known  as 
the  Jessara  hospitalis^  Two  men,  friends, 
about  to  part,  would  divide  a  white  stone 
into  two,  each  carrying  with  him  half,  upon 
which  was  inscribed  the  name  of  the  friend. 
It  may  be  that  they  would  never  meet 
again,  but  that  stone  in  each  case  would  be 
bequeathed  to  son,  and  sometimes  generations 
after,  a  man  would  meet  another,  and  they 
would  find  that  they  possessed  the  comple- 
mentary halves  of  one  white  stone,  and  their 


io6     A  First  Century  Message 

friendship  would  be  at  once  created  upon  the 
basis  of  the  friendship  made  long  ago. 

All  these  seem  to  me  to  be  probably  sug- 
gested by  this  white  stone.  First,  the  white 
stone  of  acquittal,  whirh  is  justification.  The 
white  stone  of  victory,  being  triumph  over  all 
foes.  The  white  stone  of  citizenship,  which 
marks  the  freedom  of  the  city  of  God.  And 
then  the  white  stone  of  unending  Jriendship, 
my  name  written  on  His  half,  His  name  written 
on  mine. 

The  central  lesson  of  the  study  is  a  very 
solemn  one.  The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  must 
not  tolerate  within  her  borders  those  who  lower 
the  standard  of  truth's  requirements.  This  is 
not  a  question  of  holding  the  truth.  The 
church  at  Pergamum  was  orthodox.  It  is  a 
question  of  the  right  application  of  truth.  The 
error  of  these  men  is  one  that  in  subtle  form, 
threatens  all  churches  even  until  this  hour. 
It  is  that  if  a  man's  creed  be  right,  his  conduct 
does  not  so  much  matter.  Truth  never  excuses 
sin.  All  forms  of  sin  are  to  be  treated  with 
ruthless  and  pitiless  severity,  and  if  a  man 
holding  any  form  of  teaching,  should  attempt 
to  excuse  sin,  he  is  to  be  excluded  from  the 
fellowship  of  the  saints.  Purity  of  doctrine 
has  its  danger.    A  man  may  be  so  loyal  to  the 


The  Pergamum  Letter      107 

name  and  the  faith,  that  almost  before  he  knows 
it,  his  zeal  for  these  things  may  make  him  blind 
to  the  presence  of  teaching  which  will  under- 
mine their  value.  The  test  of  doctrine  is  purity 
of  conduct  and  character.  The  seal  of  the 
Master  has  two  sides,  on  each  an  inscription. 
On  the  one  side  the  words  are  graven,  "  The 
Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  His."  On  the 
other  side  these  other  words,  "  Let  him  that 
nameth  the  name  of  the  Lord  depart  from  in- 
iquity." Any  attempt  to  efface  this  second  side 
of  the  seal,  is  blasphemy,  an  error  to  be 
banished  with  exclusion  from  the  fellowship  of 
the  Church.  God's  order  is  the  order  of  peace, 
but  it  is  always  peace  based  upon  purity,  for 
the  wisdom  that  is  from  above  is  first  pure 
and  then  peaceable. 


THE  THYATIRA  LETTER 


"And  to  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Thyatira 
write ; 

"  These  things  saith  the  Son  of  God,  Who  hath  His 
eyes  like  a  flame  of  fire,  and  His  feet  are  like  unto 
burnished  brass.  I  know  thy  works,  and  thy  love 
and  faith  and  ministry  and  patience,  and  that  thy 
last  works  are  more  than  the  first.  But  I  have 
against  thee,  that  thou  sufferest  the  woman  Jezebel, 
which  calleth  herself  a  prophetess;  and  she  teacheth 
and  seduceth  My  servants  to  commit  fornication, 
and  to  eat  things  sacrificed  to  idols.  And  I  gave  her 
time  that  she  should  repent;  and  she  willeth  not  to 
repent  of  her  fornication.  Behold,  I  do  cast  her 
into  a  bed,  and  them  that  commit  adultery  with  her 
into  great  tribulation,  except  they  repent  of  her 
works.  And  I  will  kill  her  children  with. death;  and 
all  the  churches  shall  know  that  I  am  He  which 
searcheth  the  reins  and  hearts:  and  I  will  give  unto 
each  one  of  you  according  to  your  works.  But  to 
you  I  say,  to  the  rest  that  are  in  Thyatira,  as  many 
as  have  not  this  teaching,  which  know  not  the  deep 
things  of  Satan,  as  they  say;  I  cast  upon  you  none 
other  burden.  Howbeit  that  which  ye  have,  hold 
fast  till  I  come.  And  he  that  overcometh,  and  he 
that  keepeth  My  works  unto  the  end,  to  him  will  I 
give  authority  over  the  nations :  and  he  shall  rule 
them  with  a  rod  of  iron,  as  the  vessels  of  the  potter 
are  broken  to  shivers ;  as  I  also  Lave  received  of 
My  Father:  and  I  will  give  him  the  morning  star. 
He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit 
saith  to  the  churches."    Rev.  ii :  18-29. 


VI 
THE  THYATIRA  LETTER 

npHYATIRA  was  a  small  city  in  Asia 
^  ^  Minor.  While  we  have  no  certain  account 
of  the  planting  there  of  the  Christian  Church, 
it  may  be  it  was  an  indirect  result  of  the  in- 
fluence of  Lydia.  We  remember  how  she,  the 
"  seller  of  purple  of  the  city  of  Thyatira,"  was 
one  at  the  prayer  meeting  held  on  the  banks 
of  the  river.  There  her  heart  was  opened  to 
receive  the  truth  and  obey  it,  and  she  and  all 
her  household  were  baptized  and  received  into 
the  fellowship  of  the  Church.  They  belonged 
to  Thyatira,  though  at  the  time  they  were  living 
near  Philippi.  This  of  course  is  pure  conjec- 
ture. Nothing  has  been  definitely  revealed, 
therefore  again  we  are  confined  for  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  church  to  what  appears  of  it  in 
this  letter  of  Jesus. 

In  addressing  the  angel,  the  Lord  announces 
Himself  as  the  "  Son  of  God,  Who  hath  His 
eyes  like  a  flame  of  fire,  and  His  feet  are  like 
unto  burnished  brass."  "  The  Son  of  God." 
This  is  the  first  time  that  He  has  made  use  of 
this  description  of  Himself  in  these  letters,  and 
III 


112     A  First  Century  Message 

it  marks  the  assertion  of  power  and  authority. 
He  is  the  infallible  One  to  Whose  speech 
the  church  must  pay  attention.  When  John 
turned  to  see  the  vision,  he  "  beheld  One 
like  unto  a  Son  of  man,"  but  yet  the  glory  of 
the  vision  spoke  also  of  the  fact  that  He  was 
Son  of  God.  And  now  in  this  central  letter  of 
the  seven.  He  makes  use  of  the  title  of  su- 
preme authority.  From  the  complete  vision 
He  selects  two  facts  concerning  Himself,  which 
indicate  the  special  meaning  and  value  of  the 
message  He  is  about  to  deliver,  "  His  eyes  like 
a  flame  of  fire,  and  His  feet  are  like  unto  burn- 
ished brass,"  the  eyes  of  fire  suggesting  His  in- 
timate knowledge.  His  penetrating  vision  con- 
cerning the  church,  so  that  in  the  sentence  He 
is  about  to  pronounce,  there  can  be  no  mistake, 
for  His  understanding  of  all  the  conditions  is 
a  perfect  understanding.  The  eyes  of  fire 
pierce  all  the  deeps  of  darkness,  and  know  the 
profoundest  secrets.  He  is  also  the  One  Who 
"  hath  His  feet  like  unto  burnished  brass,"  and 
by  these  statements  He  practically  announces 
the  fact  that  He  is  coming  in  judgment  which 
is  strong  and  pure.  His  eyes  like  a  flame  of 
fire,  He  sees  perfectly  and  understands  ac- 
curately. His  feet  like  unto  burnished  brass. 
He  marches  to  judgment,  the  King  amid  the 


The  Thyatira  Letter         1 1 3 

seven  golden  lampstands,  and  the  track  of  His 
coming  is  the  track  of  fire.  Righteous,  pure, 
and  final  are  all  His  judgments.  Within  the 
church  at  Thyatira  there  is  an  evil  for  which 
no  remedial  measures  are  sufficient.  It  is  not 
one  that  admits  of  correction.  There  is  nothing 
for  it  but  destruction.  It  has  permeated  the 
whole  fellowship.  Nothing  but  judgment  re- 
mains, and  so  He  comes  to  definite  and  imme- 
diate dealing  with  this  evil. 

His  commendation  commences  with  the  usual 
words,  "  I  know."  The  general  statement  is 
"  I  know  thy  works."  Then  follows  an  an- 
alysis, ''and  thy  love  and  faith  and  ministry 
and  patience."  And  lastly,  "thy  last  works 
are  more  than  the  first."  Three  things  are  in- 
dicated in  this  commendation.  First,  the  works 
of  the  church ;  secondly,  the  forces  that  lie  be- 
hind the  works — "  thy  love  and  faith  and  min- 
istry and  patience;"  and  lastly  that  those 
works  have  not  decreased  but  increased.  He 
thus  approves  the  activity  of  the  church,  the 
principles  upon  which  it  is  based,  and  the  fact 
that  in  true  order,  it  increases.  His  first  ap- 
probation is  of  the  church's  work,  the  things 
that  are  seen.  His  second  of  the  hidden  facts 
that  lie  behind  the  outward  manifestation. 
Thirdly,  He  approves  that  which  is  always  a 


114    -A.  First  Century  Message 

sequence  of  such  condition,  that  the  last  works 
are  more  than  the  first. 

"  I  know  thy  works."  He  does  not  name  or 
tabulate  them.  He  declares  His  acquaintaoce 
with  them. 

Also  He  recognizes  that  behind  them  lie  the 
love  and  fidelity,  the  ministry  and  the  patience^ 
and  the  fact  that  because  these  works  have 
these  principles  behind  them,  the  last  works  are 
more  than  the  first. 

Notice  principally,  though  briefly,  the  prin- 
ciples He  recognizes  as  lying  behind  the  works 
of  the  church.  "  I  know  .  .  .  thy  love." 
This  is  a  statement  of  the  church's  character. 
It  is  the  fact  that  lies  at  the  root,  and  out  of 
which  all  springs.  Underlying  all  the  works 
there  was  a  principle  toward  God  and  man 
which  the  Master  had  declared  to  be  the  sum 
and  substance  of  the  law  of  God.  It  was  a 
church  character.  There  was  no  breach,  no 
division,  no  schism,  but  a  wonderful  manifesta- 
tion of  love. 

"  I  know  .  .  .  thy  faith."  Again  the 
force  of  the  word  is  thy  fidelity.  Faith  is 
here  mentioned  not  as  the  principle  out  of 
which  an  attitude  grows,  but  rather  the  atti- 
tude of  fidelity  that  grows  out  of  the  principle 
of  confidence.  I  know  thy  stedfastness,  I  know 


The  Thyatira  Letter         115 

that  in  thee  is  manifested  the  opposite  of  fickle- 
ness. Too  often  works  of  love  are  alike  occa- 
sional and  spasmodic,  but  here  they  were  char- 
acterized by  constancy.  In  this  case  the  love 
was  not  an  accident,  it  was  a  habit. 

"  I  know  .  .  .  thy  ministry,"  and  herein 
is  a  tender  and  beautiful  touch.  He  was  con- 
scious of  love  in  action,  of  deeds  done  because 
of  love  to  God  and  man.  There  is  a  difference 
between  this  ministry  and  the  general  works 
already  referred  to.  They  are  the  peculiar  and 
special  activities  of  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ 
in  its  church  capacity.  The  ministry  referred 
to  here  is  rather  that  of  unofficial  kindnesses 
and  tendernesses  of  the  members  as  amongst 
themselves,  and  in  all  probability  toward  the 
outsider  also.  It  is  possible  to  have  a  church 
characterized  by  works,  and  yet  sadly  devoid 
of  this  particular  kind  of  ministry.  There  have 
been  officials  constantly  zealous  concerning  all 
official  work,  and  yet  lacking  the  thousand 
tender  touches  which  .fulfil  this  highest  min- 
istry. So  many  men  are  ready  to  spread  a 
banquet,  and  slow  to  give  a  cup  of  cold  water. 
But  to  this  church  the  Master  says,  "  I  know 
.  .  .  thy  ministry,  as  well  as  thy  works,"  all 
the  outpouring  of  the  life  in  untabulated  serv- 
ice. 


1 1 6    A  First  Century  Message 

"  I  know  .  .  .  thy  patience."  This  is  a 
great  word  upon  which  the  Master  seemed  to 
set  much  value.  He  spoke  of  it  to  the  church 
at  Ephesus,  and  now  ag^ain  to  this  church  at 
Thyatira.  May  we  not  define  this  patience  as 
the  spirit  of  peace  under  pressure.  Surely 
Milton's  words  may  be  taken  as  a  perfect  ex- 
position of  true  patience. 

"  Yet  I  argue  not  against  Heaven's  hand  or  will. 
Nor  bate  a  jot  of  heart  or  hope, 
But  still  bear  up  and  steer  right  onward." 

Patience  is  the  capacity  for  being  still  when 
all  around  is  tempest-tossed.  Patience  is  the 
flower  of  fidelity.  If  fidelity  is  the  activity  of 
faith,  patience  is  the  condition  of  character  re- 
sulting therefrom.  It  is  that  peace  of  heart 
under  pressure  of  life  which  is  so  fair  and 
fragrant  a  thing  to  us,  and  ever  seems  to  give 
the  heart  of  the  Lord  satisfaction  and  joy. 

And  yet  again.  "  I  know  .  .  .  that  thy 
last  works  are  more  than  the  first."  There 
had  been  progress  and  development  resulting 
from  this  intermediate  group  of  facts,  the  out- 
ward and  evident  activity  of  the  church  had 
broadened  and  deepened.  Such  was  the  Mas- 
ter's commendation,  and  very  beautiful  it  is. 
How  tenderly  the  Lord  recognizes  all  the  best 


The  Thyatira  Letter         1 17 

facts  in  the  life  of  the  church.  How  excellent 
a  thing  it  would  be  if  when,  for  any  reason,  we 
are  called  upon  to  criticize  some  assembly  of 
the  saints,  we  might  take  our  Lord's  pattern, 
and  utter  first  our  commendation.  This  He  al- 
ways did  unless  there  were  no  word  of  com- 
mendation that  could  be  uttered.  In  His  mes- 
sages we  ever  discover  His  recognition  of  ex- 
cellent things. 

But  now  we  pass  to  the  solemn  words  of  this 
most  mysterious  epistle,  the  words  of  com- 
plaint. *'  But  I  have  against  thee,  that  thou 
sufferest  the  woman  Jezebel."  That  is  all. 
Nothing  more.  There  is  no  other  complaint 
against  this  church.  The  whole  paragraph 
which  follows  from  the  middle  of  the  twentieth 
verse  to  the  end  of  the  twenty-third  contains 
simply  the  statement  of  the  facts  of  the  case, 
which  demonstrate  our  Lord's  right  to  com- 
plain against  the  church  for  suffering  the 
woman.  It  cannot  be  over-emphasized  that 
the  sin  of  this  church  consisted  in  the  fact 
that  she  raised  no  protest  against  the  woman 
Jezebel,  that  she  allowed  an  outsider  to  pro- 
mulgate under  her  shelter  the  most  terrible 
doctrine,  with  the  most  disastrous  results. 
Jezebel  did  not  belong  to  the  church.  She 
may  have  been  a  member  of  the  congrega- 


1 1 8     A  First  Century  Message 

tion,  even  perhaps  enrolled  on  the  earthly 
list  of  the  fellowship,  but  she  had  no  living  re- 
lation with  the  church  because  she  did  not  be- 
long to  Christ.  The  church  incurred  a  ter- 
rible responsibility  by  suffering  her.  Not  the 
teaching,  nor  the  result  of  the  teaching  did  the 
Lord  charge  against  the  church,  save  as  she 
becomes  responsible  for  what  she  suffers.  The 
wrong  of  this  false  toleration  may  be  gathered 
from  an  examination  of  the  woman,  her  work, 
and  her  judgment. 

In  attempting  to  consider  the  woman  Jeze- 
bel, we  are  at  once  found  in  the  presence  of  all 
kinds  of  questionings  and  doubts  and  inter- 
pretations. Is  the  whole  language  figurative? 
Does  Jezebel  stand  for  an  idea,  or  was  she 
actually  a  woman,  exerting  evil  influences 
through  pernicious  teaching  in  Thyatira? 
These  things  perhaps  cannot  be  finally  or  sat- 
isfactorily answered.  The  greatest  probability 
is  that  there  was  an  actual  woman.  The  mar- 
ginal rendering  of  the  message  to  the  angel  is, 
"  Thou  sufferest  thy  wife  Jezebel,"  and  there 
are  those  who  believe  that  this  woman  was  in- 
deed the  wife  of  the  angel  of  the  church. 
Whether  this  be  so  or  not,  there  can  be  little 
doubt  of  the  existence  of  an  actual  v/oman. 
Whether  her  real  name  was  Jezebel  may  be 


The  Thyatira  Letter         1 1 9 

doubtful.  It  is  probable  that  when  the  Master 
named  the  woman,  He  borrowed  a  name  from 
the  Old  Testament  in  order  to  light  up  the 
fact  of  her  character,  and  the  influence  she  was 
exerting. 

Turn  from  these  things  that  are  doubtful, 
and  let  us  examine  the  actual  words  of  Christ. 
"  Thou  sufferest  the  woman  Jezebel,  which 
calleth  herself  a  prophetess."  What  is  a 
prophetess,  and  why  is  the  statement  made  in 
this  form,  *'  she  calleth  herself  a  prophetess  ?  " 
There  can  be  very  little  doubt  that  the  woman 
claimed  to  be  an  inspired  woman,  who  had  re- 
ceived some  new  revelation.  Some  vision  or 
enlightenment  had  been  granted  to  her,  denied 
to  the  apostles,  and  she  was  promulgating  this 
new  teaching. 

The  result  is  carefully  stated  by  the  Lord  in 
the  words  "  she  teacheth  and  seduceth."  The 
result  of  the  teaching  was  the  seduction  of  the 
servants  of  God,  and  the  teaching  was  made 
forceful  because  the  woman  claimed  that  she 
was  an  inspired  messenger.  The  name  that 
the  Master  uses  in  referring  to  her,  suggests 
an  analogy  with  her  Old  Testament  prototype. 
Let  us  think  for  a  moment  of  the  Jezebel  of 
old. 

She  was  a  daughter  of  the  king  of  Tyre 


1 20    A  First  Century  Message 

and  Sidon,  avowedly  a  teacher  and  worshipper 
of  Baal.  This  worship  of  Baal  was  Nature 
worship,  and  as  is  the  case  with  all  Nature 
worship,  it  had  become  utterly  degraded. 
Coming  into  relationship  with  the  king  of 
Israel  by  marriage,  we  learn  from  the  ancient 
history  of  God's  people  that  she  was  not  only 
his  consort,  but  that  she  was  associated  with 
him  in  the  government,  with  the  result  that 
she  said  in  effect,  *  Let  us  also  set  up  the  wor- 
ship of  Baal.  I  do  not  ask  that  the  worship  of 
Jehovah  should  be  set  aside,  but  by  the  side 
of  it  let  us  have  opportunities  for  Nature  wor- 
ship.* Her  method  was  that  of  uniting  the  two 
worships.  The  purpose  in  her  heart  was  that 
of  the  setting  aside  of  the  worship  of  Jehovah 
for  the  worship  of  Baal.  Of  all  the  women 
seen  in  Old  Testament  history,  none  was  more 
brilliant,  more  daring,  more  unscrupulous  than 
Jezebel. 

The  name  of  this  woman  in  the  church  at 
Thyatira  drives  us  back  to  this  woman  of  the 
old  economy,  and  of  her  the  Lord  declares  that 
she  "  teacheth  and  seduceth  My  servants  to 
commit  fornication,  and  to  eat  things  sacrificed 
to  idols."  What  was  it  that  she  was  teaching  ? 
Nothing  at  the  moment  seems  to  be  said  on 


The  Thyatira  Letter         121 

the  point,  but  presently  when  the  Master  is 
pronouncing  His  judgment,  He  gives  us  a  clue 
to  the  character  of  the  teaching.  "  But  to  you 
I  say,  to  the  rest  that  are  in  Thyatira,  as  many 
as  have  not  this  teaching,  which  know  not  the 
deep  things  of  Satan,  as  they  say."  What  did 
the  Lord  mean  by  this  "as  they  say?"  He 
evidently  refers  to  a  claim  set  up  within  the 
teaching  of  Jezebel,  that  she  had  discovered 
some  new  deep  hidden  philosophy  of  life. 
Christ  called  it  "  the  deep  things  of  Satan." 
This  new  revelation  by  inspiration,  the  end  of 
which  was  to  show  how  in  the  heathen  systems 
were  deep  philosophies,  and  the  result  of  which 
was  to  seduce  the  servants  of  God  into  com- 
plicity with  the  outward  corruptions  of  heath- 
endom, Christ  characterizes  as  the  "  deep 
things  of  Satan."  It  was  evidently  an  attempt 
to  graft  on  to  Christianity  as  revealed  in  the 
Church,  the  mysteries  of  darkness  by  which 
Christianity  was  surrounded  in  that  district. 
As  there  was  the  germ  principle  of  Antino- 
mianism  dealt  with  in  the  church  at  Perga- 
mum,  so  here  there  is  the  germ  principle  of  the 
heresy  of  Gnosticism  in  the  woman  Jezebel. 
Here  was  an  attempt  made  to  fathom  deep  and 
underlying  and  unrevealed  mysteries  of  life. 


122     A  First  Century  Message 

and  to  make  application  of  them  under  the 
name  and  sanction  of  the  church,  and  the  issue 
of  the  whole  business  was  corruption. 

Truly  there  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun. 
The  latest  of  all  heresies  which  names  itself 
by  conjunction  of  words,  Christian  and 
Science,  of  all  the  facts  concerning  which  it  is 
profoundly  ignorant,  is  but  the  galvanizing 
of  a  mummy,  under  the  inspiration  of  yet 
another  woman,  calling  herself  a  prophetess. 
This  latter  day  manifestation,  dealt  with  phil- 
osophically, might  be  treated  as  the  amuse- 
ment of  a  passing  hour,  but  the  terrible  effect 
it  is  producing  among  the  servants  of  God, 
should  call  the  Church  to  new  attention  to  our 
Lord's  message  to  Thyatira,  and  the  estimate 
it  contains  of  His  view  of  a  church  that  suffers 
such  awful  teaching. 

What  then  according  to  the  Master's  esti- 
mate was  the  result  of  this  woman's  teach- 
ing? It  was  a  lowering  of  the  standard  of 
separation  between  the  church  and  the  world. 
One  uses  the  very  word  with  bated  breath,  for 
it  is  a  terrible  word.  "  She  teacheth  and  se- 
duceth  My  servants  to  commit  fornication." 
In  the  prophecy  of  Hosea  there  is  a  startling 
revelation  of  the  nature  of  spiritual  fornication. 
It  is  God's  estimate  of  the  sin  of  those  who 


The  Thyatira  Letter         123 

were  betrothed  to  Him,  when  they  return  to 
the  things  from  which  they  had  turned  to  Him. 
People  who  should  be  satisfied  with  Christ, 
wholly  possessed  by  Him,  led  by  Him,  taught 
by  Him,  are  playing  the  harlot  with  the  things 
that  are  against  Him.  The  influence  of  the 
teaching  of  Jezebel  was  that  the  separated! 
children  of  God,  redeemed  from  the  present 
evil  world,  called  to  separation  from  that 
world,  were  forming  new  alliances  therewith, 
and  the  spirit  of  worldliness  was  spreading  be- 
cause of  the  toleration  of  the  teaching  of  Jeze- 
bel. The  members  of  the  church  at  Thyatira 
were  finding  their  way  to  the  feasts  in  the 
heathen  temple,  eating  the  things  sacrificed  to 
idols,  and  descending  even  to  the  depth  of  the 
vices  that  ensued.  The  teaching  which  made 
this  possible  for  them  was  not  the  teaching  of 
Balaam,  which  said  that  the  covenant  was  so 
sure  and  strong  that  sin  could  not  break  it. 
This  denied  the  sinfulness  of  sin,  affirming 
that  within  the  things  that  seem  to  be  evil 
are  things  of  good.  It  was  a  practical  de- 
nial of  evil,  in  that  it  advocated  union  between 
the  deep  things,  or  mysteries  of  the  out- 
side world,  and  the  mysteries  which  are  the 
revelations  of  the  Christian  Church.  And  so 
the   servants  of  God  had  become  seduced   by 


124    ^  First  Century  Message 

the  teaching.  First,  the  false  teaching  con- 
cerning the  "  deep  things  of  Satan,"  and  then 
the  seduction  following.  His  people  went  over 
to  the  forces  which  were  against  Him,  and 
committed  harlotry  and  fornication  in  the 
spiritual  realm  by  using  freedom,  bestowed  by 
Him,  for  the  violation  of  His  will.  His 
charge  against  the  church  was  that  notwith- 
standing these  terrible  facts,  she  was  silent  and 
tolerant. 

Then  mark  His  words  of  judgment.  These 
are  introduced  with  a  declaration  of  His 
patience,  "  And  I  gave  her  time  that  she  should 
repent."  Then  follows  a  statement  that  reveals 
the  Speaker,  reveals  Him  as  the  Son  of  God, 
and  reveals  Him  as  the  One  Whose  eyes  are  as 
a  flame  of  fire.  '■  She  willeth  not  to  repent  of 
her  fornication."  No  one  else  could  have  said 
that.  He  Who  knows  even  these  deep  things 
of  Satan,  declares  that  the  will  is  hardened  and 
set  against  repentance,  and  then,  and  never 
until  then  does  He  pronounce  judgment. 

There  is  first  a  personal  visitation.  "  Be- 
hold, I  do  cast  her  into  a  bed."  The  symbo- 
lism is  graphic  and  forceful  and  terrible.  It 
suggests  that  the  woman,  who  has  taught  and 
seduced  His  servants,  shall  find  her  destruc- 
tion in  the  midst  of  the  very  corruption  which 


The  Thyatlra  Letter         125 

she  has  created.     More  than  that  cannot  be 
said. 

Then  follows  the  fact  that  others  will  share 
in  the  doom.  "  And  them  that  commit  adul- 
tery with  her  into  great  tribulation,  except 
they  repent  of  her  works."  The  only  way  to 
escape  the  tribulation  which  He  pronounces 
upon  those  who  have  been  seduced,  is  that  they 
shall  repent  of  her  works,  and  turn  altogether 
from  the  things  resulting  from  her  teaching. 

And  then  the  last  and  final  word  in  this  con- 
nection "  I  will  kill  her  children  with  death  ; 
and  all  the  churches  shall  know  that  I  am  He 
which  searcheth  the  reins  and  hearts." 

This  description  of  the  woman,  her  sin,  and 
her  judgment  lies  in  a  paragraph  in  the  midst 
of  the  epistle,  recording  our  Master's  reason 
for  disapproval.  The  church's  wrong  was  that 
this  woman  had  been  permitted.  Some  of  the 
children  of  God  had  been  seduced,  and  yet  no 
protest  had  been  raised.  It  was  a  false  charity, 
permitting  the  teaching  of  the  woman,  some- 
where and  somehow  under  the  patronage  of  the 
church  itself.  The  whole  church  was  not  con- 
taminated with  the  doctrine.  Of  it  He  said 
some  of  His  sweetest  and  strongest  things. 
But  in  a  false  charity  the  woman  Jezebel  had 
been  suffered.    The  church  had  not  with  suf- 


126     A  First  Century  Message 

ficient  clearness  announced  the  fact  that  she 
had  no  dealing  with  the  heresy  taught,  that 
between  the  inspired  truth  of  which  the  church 
was  the  pillar  and  the  ground,  and  the  hyster- 
ical teaching  from  the  self-styled  prophetess, 
there  was  no  complicity,  and  could  be  no 
union. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  our  Lord's  words  of 
counsel,  full  of  encouragement  and  gracious 
promise.  "  But  to  you  I  say,  to  the  rest  that 
are  in  Thyatira."  Thus  to  those  who  had  not 
been  influenced  by  the  teaching,  nor  consented 
to  its  toleration,  He  said,  "  I  cast  upon  you 
none  other  burden.  Howbeit  that  which  ye 
have,  hold  fast  till  I  come."  Did  He  mean  that 
they  were  to  hold  fast  the  burden  until  He 
came?  Assuredly  He  did.  What  then  is  the 
burden  ?  The  truth  as  once  for  all  delivered  to 
them ;  and  by  saying,  "  I  cast  upon  you  none 
other  burden,"  He  meant,  Do  not  be  led  away 
by  any  new  mysteries,  or  new  perplexities,  or 
new  revelations.  I  have  laid  upon  you  the  bur- 
den of  truth  sufficient  for  the  moment.  "  I  cast 
upon  you  none  other  burden."  Any  new  rev- 
elation that  men  claim  as  from  Me,  receive  it 
not.  Any  new  philosophy  of  life  that  fails  to 
harmonize  with  that  declared,  reject.  ''  How- 
beit that  which  ye  have,"  the  truth  as  revealed, 


The  Thyatira  Letter         127 

My  law  of  life,  that  hold  fast.  Do  not  suffer 
anyone  to  teach  something  which  I  forgot  to 
say !  "  I  will  cast  upon  you  none  other  bur- 
den.'' 

Carefully  note  this.  There  seems  to  be  al- 
most a  play  upon  words  in  what  Jesus  said; 
there  is  certainly  familiarity  with  their  root 
meaning.  He  says,  Those  of  you  who  have  not 
this  teaching,  that  "  know  not  the  deep  things 
of  Satan  " — that  word,  "  deep  things  "  is  the 
word  pdOo^,  that  is,  the  profundities  of  Satan. 
And  He  then  says,  "  I  cast  upon  you  none  other 
burden."  That  word  "  >urden  "  is  the  word 
^apos,  which  means  an  impression  made. 
Both  jSa^os  and  /Sdpo^  spring  from  the  original 
root  fSda-L^.  It  is  evident  that  He  was  speak- 
ing with  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  history 
of  the  words,  and  indulging  in  a  play  upon 
them.  It  is  as  though  He  had  said,  These 
people  are  professing  to  discover  some  new 
deep  things,  which  they  will  lay  upon  you. 
"  1  cast  upon  you  none  other  deep  things." 
Herein  is  a  great  principle  for  the  government 
of  our  intelligent  life  as  Christian  people.  The 
thing  claiming  to  be  new,  is  therefore  to  be 
doubted.  The  message  He  has  delivered  is 
complete,  the  doctrine  is  enunciated,  the  mys- 
teries are  revealed,  and  whosoever,  man  or 


128     A  First  Century  Message 

woman,  would  claim  to  reveal  a  new  mystery, 
is  the  messenger  of  Satan. 

And  yet  again  "  Hold  fast  till  I  come."  How 
often  this  reference  to  His  coming,  and  almost 
wherever  found,  it  has  some  fresh  light  and 
meaning.  It  is  as  though  He  would  say.  Wait 
for  the  deeper  things  until  I  come.  When  I 
come  I  will  unlock  the  mysteries,  I  will  reveal 
the  profundities.  If  I  have  not  told  you  of 
them,  it  is  because  you  cannot  bear  them  yet. 
There  are  deep  mysteries  of  life,  and  great  and 
marvellous  secrets,  but  you  are  not  ready  for 
their  understanding.  "  I  cast  upon  you  none 
other  burden."  You  have  all  you  can  bear. 
"  Howbeit  that  which  ye  have,  hold  fast  till 
I  come."  And  then  we  shall  know  as  we  are 
known,  and  the  mysteries,  attempting  to  fathom 
which  to-day  we  can  find  corruption  only,  will 
flame  with  light,  and  lead  in  the  way  of  truth. 

The  closing  promise  and  the  crowning  state- 
ment follow.  "  And  he  that  overcometh,  and 
he  that  keepeth  My  works  unto  the  end,  to  him 
will  I  give  authority  over  the  nations :  and  he 
shall  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron,  as  the  ves- 
sels of  the  potter  are  broken  to  shivers;  as  I 
also  have  received  of  My  Father."  Notice  the 
contrast.  "  Them  that  commit  adultery  with 
her  into  great  tribulation,  except  they  repent  of 
her  works."     "  He  that  overcometh,  and  he 


The  Thyatira  Letter         129 

that  keepeth  My  works."  This  is  the  promise 
of  a  coming  authority,  an  authority  to  be  de- 
livered to  the  saints,  when  they  have  held  fast 
to  the  trust  committed  to  them,  until  God's 
moment  of  consummation  arrives. 

"  I  will  give  him  the  morning  star."  We 
shall  often  walk  in  darkness.  There  will  be 
many  mysteries  perplexing  us.  The  burden  we 
have  is  sufficient  for  the  building  of  our  char- 
acter, for  our  growth  in  life,  and  ministry  and 
works.  The  other  things  will  wait.  Presently 
He  will  give  us  the  morning  star.  That  ex- 
pression only  occurs  three  times  in  Scripture. 
In  the  book  of  Job,  in  the  language  of  God, 
when  He  is  causing  His  glory  to  pass  before 
the  astonished  vision  of  His  servant.  He  tells 
Job  of  the  wonder-working  age,  when  He  laid 
the  beams  and  wonders  of  Nature,  and  He  says 
"  When  the  morning  stars  sang  together." 
This  was  the  song  of  the  principalities  and 
powers  in  the  heavenly  places  as  they  wrought 
in  the  spaces  of  new  creation. 

I  go  to  the  end  of  the  Library,  and  I  find 
that  Jesus  says,  "  I  am  the  bright  and  the 
Morning  Star."  He  is  the  Prince  of  creation, 
He  is  the  First-bom,  and  if  we  will  but  wait, 
and  not  follow  the  last  false  philosophy  of 
impertinent  attempt  to  discover  hidden  things, 
He  will  give  us  the  morning  star.     We  shall 


130    A  First  Century  Message 

know  the  secrets  of  life,  the  deepest  problems, 
and  discover  His  Lordship  in  all. 

How  often  has  the  Church  of  Christ  imper- 
illed her  safety  by  ^ivin^  undue  heed  to  some 
new  voice.  I  am  growingly  afraid  of  the  men 
or  the  women  who  have  seen  a  vision,  and  now 
feel  called  upon  to  declare  it.  Do  not  misun- 
derstand me.  I  believe  in  visions,  ^ut  let  us 
before  we  speak  of  the  vision  be  perfectly  sure 
that  it  is  not  nightmare.  The  probability  is 
that  if  you  have  a  vision,  you  will  not  say 
much  concerning  it,  but  men  will  know  that 
you  have  seen  by  the  light  that  lingers  on  your 
face.  Perfect  light  has  shined  upon  man  in 
Christ.  With  the  shining  of  that  light,  all 
symbols  and  signs  of  the  old  covenant  have 
passed,  and  the  visions  and  the  dreams  have 
very  largely  ceased.  The  lower  orders  of 
material  miracles  have  given  place  to  the 
higher  in  the  realms  of  spiritual  triumph.  Let 
us  ever  be  careful  how  we  give  credence  to  a 
new  voice.  We  must  be  loyal  to  Christ,  and 
loyalty  to  Christ  is  loyalty  to  the  inspired 
Word,  and  its  mighty  teachings.  To  deny 
Christ  is  to  deny  atonement,  and  to  deny  sin, 
and  the  only  voice  that  denies  these  has  learned 
its  language  and  caught  its  tone  in  the  deep 
things  of  Satan. 


The  Thyatira  Letter         131 

Is  not  the  voice  of  Jezebel  to  be  heard  in  our 
churches  to-day  in  more  ways  than  one?  Is 
there  not  sounding  all  around  us  a  cry  as 
against  separation  ?  Is  there  not  a  terrible  tend- 
ency in  church  life  to  deny  that  the  Master  calls 
us  to  places  of  peculiarity  and  loneliness  in  our 
loyalty  to  Him?  We  may  still  retain  our 
church  relationship,  and  our  name  Christian, 
and  because  of  some  new  voice,  eat  of  things 
sacrificed  to  idols,  without  defilement,  and  have 
easy  absolution,  not  by  blood,  from  the  filth  of 
fornication.  Is  it  really  popular  to-day  to  call 
church  members  into  the  place  of  separation 
from  worldliness?  Is  there  not  a  greater 
eagerness  than  ever  to  find  some  doctrine  by 
submission  to  which  we  can  be  rid  of  sin,  while 
still  keeping  it  ? 

Yet  surely  the  New  Test- 
ment  is  perfectly  clear. 

"  Come  ye  out  from  among  them,  and 
be  ye  separate, 
saith  the  Lord 

And  touch  no  unclean  thing; 

And  I  will  receive  you. 

And  will  be  to  you  a  Father, 

And   ye   shall   be   to    Me   sons   and 
daughters, 
saith  the  Lord  Almighty. 


132    A  First  Century  Message 

"  Who  gave  Himself  for  our  sins,  that  He 
might  deliver  us  out  of  this  present  evil  v^^orld." 

"If  then  ye  were  raised  together  with  Christ, 
seek  the  things  that  are  above,  where  Christ  is, 
seated  on  the  right  hand  of  God." 

"  Who  gave  Himself  for  us,  that  He  might 
redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify  unto 
Himself  a  people  for  His  own  possession." 

"  Be  ye  yourselves  holy  in  all  manner  of 
Hving." 

Through  the  whole  New  Testament  the  call 
is  to  separation,  to  peculiarity,  to  a  clear  line 
of  demarcation  between  the  Church  and  the 
world.  I  fear  that  the  voice  of  Jezebel  is  yet 
tolerated,  and  that  the  children  of  God  are 
being  seduced.  Things  at  which  our  fathers 
shuddered  are  to-day  being  introduced  as  nec- 
essary to  the  social  and  financial  success  of  the 
Church.  In  the  name  of  God  and  humanity, 
let  us  keep  the  line  clear  and  sharp,  and  know 
on  which  side  we  stand.  Any  doctrine,  any 
philosophy,  that  makes  it  easy  to  sin,  whether 
by  excusing  it,  minimizing  its  enormity,  or  de- 
nying its  existence  is  of  hell,  and  not  merely 
are  those  held  guilty  who  teach  the  doctrine 
and  practise  the  sin,  but  that  church  also  which 
is  not  clear  and  outspoken  in  its  protests 
against  sin.  The  church  that  suffers  the 
woman  is  guilty.  \ 


THE  SARDIS  LETTER 


"And  to  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Sardis  write; 

"  These  things  saith  He  that  hath  the  seven  Spirits 
of  God,  and  the  seven  stars :  I  know  thy  works,  that 
thou  hast  a  name  that  thou  Hvest,  and  thou  art  dead. 
Be  thou  watchful,  and  stablish  the  things  that  re- 
main, which  were  ready  to  die:  for  I  have  found 
no  works  of  thine  fulfilled  before  My  God.  Re- 
member therefore  how  thou  hast  received  and  didst 
hear;  and  keep  it,  and  repent.  If  therefore  thou 
shalt  not  watch,  I  will  come  as  a  thief,  and  thou 
shalt  not  know  what  hour  I  will  come  upon  thee. 
But  thou  hast  a  few  names  in  Sardis  which  did  not 
defile  their  garments:  and  they  shall  walk  with  Me 
in  white;  for  they  are  worthy.  He  that  overcometh 
shall  thus  be  arrayed  in  white  garments;  and  I 
will  in  no  wise  blot  his  name  out  of  the  book  of 
life,  and  I  will  confess  His  name  before  My  Father, 
and  before  His  angels.  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him 
hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  to  the  churches."  Rev. 
iii :  1-6. 


VII 
THE  SARDIS  LETTER 

^"T^  HERE  is  a  marked  change  in  our  Lord's 
•*-  method  of  address  to  the  church  at  Sardis. 
Hitherto  He  has  commenced  with  words  of 
commendation.  Here  He  commenced  with 
words  of  condemnation.  In  the  other  churches 
evil  had  not  been  the  habit,  but  rather  the  ex- 
ception, and  therefore  it  was  possible  first  to 
commend.  Here  the  case  is  reversed,  and  no 
word  of  commendation  is  addressed  to  the 
church  as  a  church. 

The  Lord  addressed  the  church  as  "  He  that 
hath  the  seven  Spirits  of  God,  and  the  seven 
stars,"  and  this  commendation  marks  those  as- 
pects of  His  personality  which  characterize  His 
dealing  with  a  church  in  such  condition.  "  He 
that  hath  the  seven  Spirits  of  God."  This  de- 
scription indicates  His  fulness  of  power,  and 
also  His  fulness  of  wisdom.  The  church  for 
lack  of  life,  is  full  of  unfulfilled  works,  and  the 
Lord  approaches  them  in  all  the  plenitude  of 
His  power  and  His  wisdom.  "  He  that  hath 
.  .  .  the  seven  stars."  This  symbol  is  sug- 
135 


136     A  First  Century  Message 

gestive  at  once  of  the  perfection  of  ministry 
which  He  places  at  the  disposal  of  the  churches, 
and  also  therefore  of  His  knowledge  of  all 
such  ministry  as  the  churches  have  received. 

His  complaint  is  startling  and  terrible.  "  I 
know  thy  works,  that  thou  hast  a  name  that 
thou  livest,  and  thou  art  dead."  With  what 
changed  emphasis  we  read  the  words  "  I 
know."  The  whole  tone  of  it  has  been  full  of 
tenderness  and  comfort.  Now  it  is  a  trumpet- 
blast  of  terror.  "  I  know  thy  works."  The 
church  at  Sardis  is  not  devoid  of  works.  In- 
deed it  is  so  full  of  them  as  to  give  it  a  name  of 
being  alive.  In  all  probability  there  was  full 
and  correct  organization,  the  ordinances  of  the 
church  were  regularly  observed.  They  gath- 
ered upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  for  wor- 
ship. They  contributed  systematically  to  the 
necessities  of  the  work.  In  brief,  it  is  most 
likely  that  to  all  outward  appearances  they 
fulfilled  the  description  of  the  early  Church 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  in  that  they 
"  continued  stedf astly  in  the  apostles'  doc- 
trine, in  the  breaking  of  bread,  and  in  fel- 
lowship, and  in  prayers."  "  Thou  hast  a  name 
that  thou  livest."  There  can  be  but  one  sig- 
nification in  this  statement  of  Christ.  Noth- 
ing is  lacking  as  to  external  manifestation,  and 


The  Sardis  Letter  137 

yet  Christ  says  "And  thou  art  dead."  He 
Who  seeks  first  for  the  inward  life,  finds  noth- 
^  ing  to  satisfy  His  heart  in  this  church.  Scaf- 
folding is  of  no  value  to  Him  if  the  building 
be  making  no  progress  behind  it.  The  white- 
ness of  a  sepulcher  does  not  attract  Him  if 
within  there  be  nothing  but  dead  bones.  He 
seeks  always  for  the  inward,  and  only  for  the 
outward  as  it  continues  to  be  the  expression  of 
the  inward.  The  breaking  of  bread  is  nothing 
save  as  there  is  the  spiritual  feeding  upon  Him- 
self. The  meeting  for  worship  is  valueless  save 
as  through  the  externals,  the  soul  passes  into 
communion  with  Him.  Gifts  are  not  accepted 
when  they  are  the  mere  observance  of  a  duty, 
^and  not  the  expression  of  the  heart's  adoration. 
The  life  which  expresses  itself  in  love  was  ab- 
sent, and  so  the  church  lacked  what  would  be 
acceptable  to  Christ,  and  would  satisfy  for  all 
the  toil  He  had  endured  to  win  it  for  Himself. 
"  Thou  art  dead."  Flowers  there  may  be,  but 
of  wax,  poor  imitations  of  the  flowers  of  God 
which  grow  and  bloom  and  shed  their  fra- 
grance. The  form  of  manhood  may  be  there, 
and  the  garments  in  which  the  form  is  draped 
be  gorgeous,  and  all  the  trappings  speak  of 
royalty,  and  yet  the  body  be  loathsome  to 
Christ,  for  the  eye  lacks  lustre,  the  arm  is 


138    A  First  Century  Message 

nerveless,  the  heart  is  still,  death  reigns  and 
corruption  is  already  holding  high  carnival. 

^  "  Thou  hast  a  name  that  thou  livest."  That 
is  to  say,  that  there  was  everything  in  Sardis 
that  would  satisfy  the  outside  observer.  "  And 
thou  art  dead."  That  is  to  say,  there  was  noth- 
ing iu  Sardis  that  could  satisfy  the  heart  of 
Christ.  This  seems  difficult  to  comprehend, 
^ut  the  explanation  is  to  be  found  in  the  fur- 
ther words  of  Christ.  **  I  have  found  no  works 
of  thine  fulfilled,  before  My  God."  There  was 
great  promise,  but  no  result,  that  is,  nothing 

^  fulfilled  before  God.  Was  there  no  prayer  ? 
On  earth  there  were  prayers,  but  they  did  not 
reach  the  heavens.  Were  there  no  songs?  In 
all   likelihood,   the    music  was    correct    and 

'  elaborate,  but  no  harmony  was  heard  in  the 
heavenly  temple.  Were  there  no  gifts  ?  In  all 
probability  gifts  were  bestowed  with  unfail- 
ing regularity,  but  they  were  not  registered  in 
the  treasury  of  the  inner  sanctuary.  Every- 
thing stopped  short  of  the  inner  temple.  All 
kinds  of  Committee  meetings  attended,  but 
nothing  done,  nothing  finished,  nothing  ful- 
filled. Resolutions,  and  promises,  and  a  great 
showing  upon  paper,  but  nothing  reaching 
fruitage  before  God,  nothing  that  satisfied  the 
Divine  heart,  nothing  that  answered  the  Divine 


The  Sardis  Letter  139 

purpose.    Outward  forms,  ceremonies,  organi- 
zation; but  death  reigned. 

The  essence  of  worship  is  that  while  it 
begins  in  the  church,  it  takes  hold  upon 
heaven.  If  the  hymn  is  simply  a  musical  ex- 
pression of  pleasant  feeling,  there  is  no  wor- 

•  ship  in  it.  But  if  upon  the  wings  of  sacred 
song  our  spirits  find  their  way  into  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  then  that  song  is  fulfilled  before  God. 
If  the  prayer  we  utter  is  a  compilation  of  sen- 
tences, spoken  for  the  fulfilment  of  duty,  it  is 
not  prayer.  But  if  the  prayer,  expressing  a 
sense  of  need,  finds  its  way  above  the  mists  and 
the  mysteries  of  life,  to  the  throne,  it  is  fulfilled 
before  God.  If  our  gifts  are  bestowed  that  we 
may  be  kept  square  with  duty,  they  are  utterly 
refused  in  heaven.  But  if  they  express  a  sac- 
rifice and  a  sympathy,  though  they  be  but  small 
according  to  the  arithmetic  of  men,  they  are 
counted  of  great  worth  in  that  temple  where 
gifts  are  valued  according  to  the  givers. 

In  the  church  at  Sardis  there  were  plans, 
schemes,  programmes,  but  nothing  fulfilled  be- 

^  fore  God,  no  growth  into  the  likeness  of  Christ, 
no  enlargement  of  the  church  through  the  prop- 
agation  of  the  Christ-life,  no  compassion  for 
souls,  no  fellowship  with    the    sufiferings    of 

^  Christ.    There  were  many  things  fulfilled  be- 


• 


140     A  First  Century  Message 

fore  men ;  indeed,  the  church  had  come  to  the 
place  where  it  Hved  before  men  rather  than  be- 
fore God,  more  anxious  in  all  probability  about 
their  reputation  in  Sardis  than  their  reputation 
in  heaven,  more  desirous  for  the  good  opinion 
of  neighbouring  churches,  than  for  the  com- 
mendation of  the  Head  of  the  Church.  "  Thou 
J  hast  a  name,"  everything  that  will  satisfy  the 
craving  for  reputation,  "  and  thou  art  dead," 
nothing  that  gladdens  the  heart  of  God. 

Having  thus  in  one  swift  sentence  revealed 
the  church's  lack.  He  continues  in  words  of 
gracious  counsel.  "  Be  thou  watchful,  and 
stablish  the  things  that  remain,  which  were 
ready  to  die:  for  I  have  found  no  works  of 
thine  fulfilled  before  My  God.  Remember 
therefore  how  thou  hast  received  and  didst 
hear;  and  keep  it,  and  repent.  If  therefore 
thou  shalt  not  watch,  I  will  come  as  a  thief, 
and  thou  shalt  not  know  what  hour  I  will  come 
upon  thee."  And  then  omitting  the  next  verse, 
"  He  that  overcometh  shall  thus  be  arrayed  in 
white  garments;  and  I  will  in  no  wise  blot 
his  name  out  of  the  book  of  life,  and  I  will  con- 
fess his  name  before  My  Father,  and  before 
His  angels."  His  words  of  counsel  contain, 
first,  advice  to  the  church;  secondly,  an  in- 


The  Sardis  Letter  141 

centive  to  obedience  and  a  warning;  and  lastly, 
His  promise  to  the  overcomer. 

"  Stablish  the  things  that  remain."  If  the 
church  was  dead,  what  things  remained  ?  The 
unfulfilled  things,  the  very  forms  and  cere- 
monies which  had  given  the  church  its  name  to 
live.  Christ  did  not  suggest  that  these  people 
should  put  aside  any  of  their  externalities,  but 
that  they  should  fulfil  them.  They  were  not  to 
cease  assembling  for  worship,  but  they  were  to 
worship.  They  were  still  to  send  their  help, 
and  give  their  gifts,  but  these  were  to  be  the 
expressions  of  their  devotion  to  their  Lord, 
and  not  the  price  they  paid  for  the  good  opin- 
ion of  others.  The  forms  were  not  wrong. 
They  needed  to  be  filled  with  power.  The  dry 
bones  were  necessary,  but  they  needed  to  be 
^clothed  with  flesh,  and  become  instinct  with 
life.  The  organization  must  not  be  neglected, 
but  it  should  act  in  the  power  of  vital  force. 

There  can,  I  think,  be  no  other  understand- 
ing of  this  expression,  "the  things  that  re- 
main." He  cannot  have  reference  to  a  faint 
life  that  needed  revival,  for  He  distinctly  says 
"  thou  art  dead."  This  part  of  the  message  is 
not  for  the  few  in  Sardis,  for  to  them  He  has  a 
special  word.     No,  it  is  rather  that  in  tender 


142    A  First  Century  Message 

grace,  He  recognizes  the  outward  symbol,  the 
unfulfilled  things,  the  very  forms  and  ceremo- 
nies that  have  been  earth-bound,  and  He  says, 
Strengthen  them,  stablish  them,  fill  them  to  the 
full.     Be  no  longer  satisfied  with  externals. 

That  is  ever  Christ's  message  to  the  formal- 
ist. He  does  not  ask  that  outward  form  should 
be  given  up,  or  helpful  rite  abandoned.  He 
will  not  suggest  the  setting  aside  of  any  form 
or  ceremony  that  in  itself  is  helpful.  He  has 
no  criticism  for  these  things.  He  permits  the 
music  and  the  methods,  always  providing  that 
they  are  expressive  of  the  deeper  fact  of  life. 
These  things  He  hates  when  they  become  the 
grave-clothes  wrapped  about  death.  The  true 
ideal  of  worship  is  that  of  man  communing 
with  God.  Through  what  forms  that  wor- 
ship expresses  itself  is  of  little  moment.  Christ 
does  not  call  the  church  at  Sardis  to  abandon 
these,  but  to  stablish  them  by  making  them 
instinct  with  life. 

Specially  mark  the  significance  of  the  words 
that  follow,  "  which  were  ready  to  die."  This 
is  a  solemn  note  of  warning.  It  indicates  the 
fact  that  even  these  outward  forms  will  cease, 
unless  there  be  behind  them  the  throb  of  life. 
They  are  ready  to  die,  as  all  that  is  merely  out- 
ward perishes.     The  very  things  that  remain, 


The  Sardis  Letter  143 

the  outward  forms  and  ceremonies,  which  give 
the  church  a  name  to  Hve,  are  ready  to  perish 
if  the  heart  and  Hfe  have  passed  away.  It  is 
always  but  a  step  from  formalism  to  rational- 
ism, and  if  external  things  lack  internal  force, 
they  themselves  will  crumble  to  decay,  and 
presently  there  will  remain  in  Sardis  not  even 
a  church  having  a  name  to  live. 

No  man  can  live  long  on  ritual.  How  often 
has  the  Church  had  proof  of  this.  Stretching 
over  the  hill-side  yonder  is  a  forest  of  mighty 
oaks,  and  among  them  I  see  one  necessarily  at- 
tracting attention  by  the  magnificence  of  its 
form,  and  the  splendour  of  its  outward  appear- 
ance. It  is  easily  the  king  of  the  forest.  But 
presently  under  stress  of  a  sweeping  storm 
that  tree  is  bowed  and  broken.  We  approach, 
in  wonder,  to  discover  the  reason,  and  find 
that  through  processes  we  did  not  observe, 
which  were  secret  and  silent  in  operation,  an 
inward  decay  had  long  been  at  work.  The 
life  forces  within  had  been  weakened,  and  in 
the  rush  of  the  tempest  the  outward  appear- 
ance was  destroyed. 

So  also  with  the  Church.  When  its  inward 
life  force  has  ebbed  away  into  orthodox  organ- 
izations, it  is  ready  to  die,  to  perish.  In  the 
sight  of  Christ  it  is  dead  already,  though  it 


144    A  First  Century  Message 

has  yet  a  name  to  live ;  and  when  dead  in  His 
sight  it  will  surely  soon  be  seen  to  be  dead  even 
by  those  among  whom  for  the  moment  it  has 
a  name  to  live. 

What  is  true  of  the  Church  is  equally  true  of 
the  individual.  No  man  can  become  absorbed 
in  the  external  to  neglect  of  the  inward  and 
spiritual  without  being  in  danger  of  losing  the 
external  manifestation  also.  How  often  have 
we  seen  it!  Men  leave  the  plain  and  simpler 
forms  of  worship  for  outward  magnificence  of 
manifestation,  hoping  by  these  things  to  com- 
pensate for  lack  of  spiritual  power,  and  the 
next  thing  we  hear  of  them  is  that  they  have 
abandoned  their  outward  relation  to  the  Church 
also.  It  is  of  little  importance  what  the  out- 
ward form  may  be,  providing  that  the  inner  life 
is  there,  and  that  through  the  externalities  it 
is  finding  full  expression. 

Works  unfulfilled  before  God  must  sooner 
or  later  manifest  their  emptiness  before  men. 
Therefore  let  the  things  that  remain,  which 
were  ready  to  die  be  stablished. 

As  an  incentive  to  obedience,  the  Lord  ut- 
ters a  solemn  warning.  "  If  therefore  thou 
shalt  not  watch,  I  will  come  as  a  thief,  and 
thou  shalt  not  know  what  hour  I  will  come 
upon  thee."     How  differently  the  promise  of 


The  Sardis  Letter  145 

His  coming  sounds  under  different  circum- 
stances of  Church  life  and  Church  character. 
When  sacred  things  lose  power,  precious  things 
lose  blessing.  When  faith  is  dead,  hope  be- 
comes dread.  In  the  early  first  love  of  Chris- 
tian experience,  the  thought  of  the  advent  of 
Christ  IS  a  thought  of  hope.  When  that  love 
is  lost,  and  death  reigns,  that  which  is  the 
brightest  star  in  the  firmament  to  the  trusting 
heart  becomes  a  dread  of  darkness.  The 
promise  which  produces  a  thrill  of  joy,  be- 
comes a  thought  of  terror  to  the  men  who 
have  fallen  out  of  harmony  with  the  Lord  and 
Master. 

In  Scripture  the  advent  of  Jesus  is  con- 
stantly described  under  two  aspects.  The  last 
prophecy  uttered  before  His  first  advent,  has 
the  same  recognition  of  dual  significance. 
*'  For,  behold,  the  day  cometh,  it  burneth  as  a 
furnace ;  and  all  the  proud,  and  all  that  work 
wickedness,  shall  be  stubble ;  and  the  day  that 
cometh  shall  burn  them  up,  saith  the  Lord  of 
Hosts,  that  it  shall  leave  them  neither  root  nor 
branch."  What  a  terrible  announcement.  But 
yet  listen  again,  for  the  prophet  proceeds  with- 
out break,  "  But  unto  you  that  fear  My  name 
shall  the  sun  of  righteousness  arise  with  heal- 
ing in  His  wings;   and  ye  shall  go  forth,  and 


146     A  First  Century  Message 

gambol  as  calves  of  the  stall."  What  a  con- 
trast. On  the  one  side  a  day  of  burning  and 
destruction.  On  the  other  the  sun  rising  with 
healing  in  its  light.  Are  these  two  different 
advents  ?  No,  the  difference  is  created  by  the 
condition  of  the  people  at  the  dawning  of  the 
day. 

To  those  who  work  wickedness  the  day 
would  be  one  of  burning  and  destructive  heat. 
To  those  who  fear  His  name  the  day  would  be 
of  healing,  the  dawning  of  the  morning,  the 
breaking  of  light.  The  sun  has  two  effects. 
It  will  bum  up  the  parched  ground  until  it  be- 
comes like  a  cinder.  A  plant  in  such  ground, 
devoid  of  water,  will  be  killed  by  the  heat ;  but 
if  a  tree  be  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water, 
and  its  roots  go  down  and  take  hold  of  the 
springs  of  life,  the  sun  will  be  the  messenger 
of  health  and  growth  and  advancement. 

So  also  with  regard  to  the  second  advent. 
The  church's  attitude  toward  the  doctrine  is 
always  a  revelation  of  the  church's  spiritual 
condition;  and  the  attitude  of  the  individual 
soul  toward  the  thought  of  the  Lord's  return 
is  always  a  revelation  of  that  soul's  condition 
before  God.  If  I  have  a  name  to  live  while  I 
am  dead,  then  His  announcement  "  I  will 
come ! "  is  a  thought  of  terror.  But  if  I  have 


The  Sardis  Letter  147 

life  and  love  and  loyalty,  the  promise  of  His 
coming  is  the  promise  of  day  break. 

In  referring  to  the  second  advent  the  apostle 
of  love  wrote,  "  And  now,  my  little  children, 
abide  in  Him :  that,  if  He  shall  be  manifested, 
we  may  have  boldness,  and  not  be  ashamed 
before  Him  at  His  coming."  Two  attitudes 
towards  His  coming  are  here  revealed,  "  bold- 
ness," "  ashamed  before  Him."  The  difference 
is  created  by  the  condition  of  those  who  wait 
for  Him.  If  abiding  in  Him,  then  at  His 
coming  we  shall  have  boldness.  If  not  abid- 
ing in  Him,  we  shall  be  ashamed  before  Him. 

This  is  a  very  searching  test  of  our  personal 
condition.  If  when  we  hear  the  coming  of 
Jesus  spoken  of,  it  is  as  the  voice  of  music  in 
the  soul,  then  are  we  fulfilling  our  works  be- 
fore God.  If  on  the  other  hand,  the  mention 
of  the  possibility  of  His  approach  creates  the 
desire  to  postpone  that  coming,  it  is  because 
our  relation  to  Him  is  formal  rather  than  liv- 
ing. The  soul  that  lives  in  Christ,  and  works 
with  Him  amid  the  defilement  of  a  decadent 
age,  never  hears  His  message  "  Behold,  I  come 
quickly  "  without  answering,  "  Even  so  come, 
Lord  Jesus." 

This  announcement  of  His  coming  gives 
force  to  the  word  "  Remember  therefore  how 


148     A  First  Century  Message 

thou  hast  received  and  didst  hear;  and  keep 
it  and  repent."  If  the  church  hear  His 
warning,  and  repent,  and  watch,  and  stablish 
the  things  remaining,  the  promise  of  His  com- 
ing will  have  in  it  no  terror,  but  be  a  veritable 
gospel  of  hope.  But  if  the  church  abide  in  the 
realm  of  formalism,  having  a  name,  but  lack- 
ing life,  then  the  declaration  that  He  will  come 
can  produce  nothing  but  fear. 

To  the  overcomer  the  Master  says  "  He  that 
overcometh  shall  thus  be  arrayed  in  white  gar- 
ments ;  and  I  will  in  no  wise  blot  his  name  out 
of  the  book  of  life,  and  I  will  confess  his  name 
before  My  Father,  and  before  His  angels." 
The  man  that  overcomes  is  the  one  who  re- 
members and  repents.  To  such  He  promises 
the  final  robing,  "  He  shall  thus  be  arrayed  in 
white  garments,"  and  a  recognition  in  the 
final  roll-call,  "  I  will  in  no  wise  blot  his  name 
out  of  the  book  of  life,  and  I  will  confess  his 
name  before  My  Father,  and  before  His  an- 
gels." The  robing  in  white  garments  is  sym- 
bolical not  of  the  purity  of  Christ,  but  of  the 
manifestation  of  the  works  of  the  saints,  works 
purified  by  Christ,  and  revealed  in  the  light  of 
the  Father's  house ;  and  the  names  of  such, 
Christ  will  confess  in  the  presence  of  His 
Father  and  of  the  holy  angels. 


The  Sardis  Letter  149 

Then  there  is  also  that  tender  word  of  com- 
mendation almost  a  parenthesis,  not  spdcen  to 
the  whole  church  as  describing  it,  but  of  a 
remnant  that  have  not  passed  under  the  con- 
demnation. "  But  thou  hast  a  few  names  in 
Sardis  which  did  not  defile  their  garments: 
and  they  shall  walk  with  Me  in  white;  for 
they  are  worthy."  In  the  midst  of  the  formal- 
ism of  the  many,  there  were  a  few  who  lived 
and  fulfilled  their  works  before  God,  who  did 
not  defile  their  garments,  and  to  these  the 
Master  says,  "  They  shall  walk  with  Me  in 
white  for  they  are  worthy."  In  Scripture  the 
robing  of  the  saint  is  ever  an  expression  of  the 
saint's  own  service  and  character.  In  the  de- 
scription of  the  white  robed  multitude  in  Rev- 
elation, it  is  said  that  their  white  robes  are  the 
righteousness  of  the  saints,  not  the  righteous- 
ness of  God,  but  the  righteousness  of  the 
saints.  That  is  to  say,  that  fidelity  of  charac- 
ter and  of  service  shall  presently  have  its  out- 
ward manifestation. 

Is  not  some  very  beautiful  light  thrown 
upon  the  thought  by  the  fact  of  the  transfig- 
uration of  Jesus?  On  the  holy  mount  His 
raiment  became  white  and  glistening,  and  the 
glory  which  the  wondering  disciples  beheld 
was  that  of  the  outshining  of  His  own  perfec- 


150    A  First  Century  Message 

tion  which  made  even  the  homely  garment  that 
He  wore,  flash  with  the  splendour  of  heaven's 
own  whiteness.  Those  who  on  earth  did  not 
defile  their  garments,  shall  finally  walk  with 
Him  in  white.  They  shall  come  to  the  time 
when  there  shall  be  manifested  in  outward 
glory  their  inward  loyalty  to  Christ. 

The  chief  thought  of  the  church  in  Sardis 
had  been  that  of  popularity,  of  having  a  name. 
A  few  had  been  supremely  anxious  to  be  ap- 
proved of  Him,  and  concerning  them  He  says, 
one  day  they  shall  be  manifested  in  the  glory 
of  their  own  fidelity.  That  which  is  visible 
now  to  the  eye  of  Christ  shall  finally  be  seen 
to  be  beautiful  by  others. 

There  is  an  awful  possibility  threatening  the 
life  of  all  our  churches,  and  the  church  at 
Sardis  is  an  example  of  warning  concerning  it. 
It  is  a  possibility,  so  subtle  and  insidious,  that 
almost  before  knowing,  the  church  may  have 
drifted  into  the  peril.  It  is  that  of  a  dead 
orthodoxy,  a  dead  correctness.  There  may  be 
flourishing  finances,  large  numbers  attending 
the  services,  varied  and  ever  increasing  organ- 
izations, correct  expositions  of  truth,  and  yet 
the  church  may  be  dead.  It  may  have  a  name 
to  live.  It  may  be  such  as  will  always  be 
spoken  of  as  a  living  church.     Surrounding 


The  Sardis  Letter  151 

churches  may  flatter  it,  and  it  may  even  be  de- 
ceived itself,  and  yet  Christ  may  find  in  it  no 
element  of  value.  Such  a  statement  as  that, 
such  a  solemn  and  awful  statement  should  lead 
us  to  ask  in  all  seriousness.  What  are  the  true 
signs  of  life  in  the  churches  of  Jesus  Christ? 
If  the  presence  of  life  may  not  be  judged  by 
these  things,  how  may  we  know  whether  the 
church  is  living  or  dead? 

The  evidences  of  life  are  at  least  fourfold. 
.  In  a  living  church  there  will  be  growth,  com- 
0  passion,  union,  and  emotion, 
t      There  will  be  growth.     The  principle  of  life 
•  makes  stagnation  impossible.     Growth  in  the 
individual    character    of    the    members,    and 
growth  in  the  membership  of  the  church,  not 
merely  by  accretion  from  without,  but  by  ex- 
pansion  from   within.     That  church  is  in  a 
sorrowful  condition  that  has  added  nothing  to 
its  membership  through    the   propagative  life 
forces  of  its  own  communion.     The  member- 
ship that  only  grows  by  the  accident  of  re- 
movals and  letters  of  introduction  is  in  a  ter- 
rible condition.     If  none  are  born  again  di- 
rectly through  the  working  of  the  church,  we 
may  almost  certainly  say  that  the  church  is 
dead.    I  say  that  in  all  seriousness,  and  without 
apology.     I  would  be  afraid  to  remain  as  pas- 


152    A  First  Century  Message 

tor  or  member  of  a  church  if  for  any  length 
of  time  there  were  none  added  to  its  fellow- 
ship upon  confession  of  faith.  In  this  matter 
the  minister  cannot  be  held  wholly  responsible. 
He  may  travail  in  birth  for  souls,  but  unless 
the  church  is  in  co-operative  and  living  sym- 
pathy with  him,  there  will  be  no  result.  But 
where  the  whole  communion  is  serving  in  the 
power  of  a  great  life,  then  through  the  Sab- 
bath School,  through  the  varied  agencies, 
through  the  living  influence  of  individual 
members,  the  life  will  be  propagated,  and  men 
and  women  will  be  gathered  into  the  fellow- 
ship upon  confession  of  faith.  Whatever  else 
may  be  true  concerning  the  church,  if  there 
be  no  additions  by  new  birth,  the  church  is 
dead,  though  it  have  a  name  to  live.  Life  is 
always  propagative,  and  that  is  nowhere  so 
actually  and  forcefully  true  as  in  the  realm 
of  Christianity. 

Another  sign  of  life  is  that  of  compassion. 
The  true  consciousness  of  the  Church  is  the 
consciousness  of  the  Christ,  and  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  Christ  is  that  of  love.  That  church 
which  has  no  heart  of  compassion  for  the  lost, 
is  dead.  The  suburban  church  that  attempts 
to  buy  off  its  own  personal  responsibility  by 
making  donations  to  send  men  down  to  work 


The  Sardis  Letter  153 

in  slums  which  it  does  not  care  itself  to  touch, 
is  dead.  Such  responsibility  can  never  be  dele- 
gated.    A  church  into  which  only  one  class 
or  caste  of  persons  gathers  for  purely  self- 
ish preservation,  is  a  libel  upon  the  very  name 
of  Christ.     Every  church  should  be  an  asylum 
for  the  lost,  a  refuge  for  the  broken-hearted, 
a  home  of  welcome  for  the  harlot  and  the  pub- 
lican.    In  God's  name  let  us  take  down  the 
signs  that  label  us  churches  of  Christ  if  we 
have  no  compassion  for  such,  and  we  have  no 
compassion  if  it  be  not  strong  enough  to  over- 
come   sentimental    prejudices,    which    result 
from  the  mere  accident  of  birth.     A  girl  of 
good   family   and   excellent  opportunities,   of 
much  culture  and  refinement  once  said  to  me, 
when  I  asked  her  to  visit  in  a  neighbourhood 
characterized  by  suffering  and  sin,  "  I  really 
could  not  do  it.     I  am  so  sensitive.     It  makes 
me  ill."     God  have  mercy  on  such  idle  pre- 
tence.   Can  any  be  more  sensitive  than  Jesus 
the  Saviour  ?     Can  any  refinement  be  superior 
to  that  of  the  perfect  One  of  Nazareth?     I 
blush  with   shame   at   a   sensitiveness   which 
proves  an  absence  of  compassion.     It  is  only 
as  we  find  our  pride  and  prejudices  whelmed 
in  the  strong  sweep  of  His  great  love  that  we 
shall  ever  be  prepared  to  touch  the  depraved. 


154     A  First  Century  Message 

We  are  dead  indeed  if  we  lack  compassion.  If 
the  love  of  Christ  is  shed  abroad  in  the  heart, 
and  the  church  is  swept  by  that  love,  there  is 
utter  forgetfulness  of  all  the  things  that  are 
objectionable.  Refinement  that  refuses  to  re- 
lieve is  nothing  more  than  cultured  paganism. 

If  there  be  love,  there  will  also  be  union. 
Disintegration  is  a  sign  of  death.  If  the 
church  be  filled  with  sections,  and  parties,  and 
there  be  strifes  and  schism  it  is  because  of  the 
lack  of  the  life  element.  The  prevalence  of 
caste,  and  the  existence  of  division  within  the 
borders  of  the  church  is  a  sure  proof  of  its 
lack  of  life.  In  the  full  tide  of  Divine  life, 
there  is  a  constant  consciousness  of  the  unity 
of  the  Spirit. 

And  yet  again.  Where  there  is  life  there  is 
emotion.  Sometimes  it  seems  as  though  the 
day  has  come  when  the  highest  type  of  life  is 
supposed  to  be  that  which  is  most  free  from 
the  possibility  of  emotion,  and  yet  how  false 
is  the  idea.  I  am  alive,  and  because  I  am  alive, 
I  weep,  I  sing,  I  laugh,  I  mourn.  It  is  the 
dead  that  have  no  tears,  no  laughter,  no  music, 
no  mourning.  I  have  no  patience  with  the 
man  who  boasts  that  his  religion  lacks  emo- 
tion. The  church  without  tears  and  laughter, 
Christ  has  little  use  for.     I  put  these  things 


The  Sardis  Letter  155 

together  for  they  are  together.  You  cannot 
have  tears  without  laughter.  You  never  found 
a  man  capable  of  humour  that  was  not  also 
capable  of  sorrow.  And  no  church  that  lacks 
joy  has  compassion.  The  church  that  lives, 
thrills  with  emotion,  is  full  of  laughter,  and 
full  of  tears,  perpetually  breaks  into  song, 
and  is  silent  again  in  the  silence  of  pain.  The 
experience  of  the  individual  members  is  real- 
ized within  the  great  union. 

If  these  things  be  lacking  in  the  church,  it  is 
dead  indeed.  The  signs  of  life  are  growth, 
compassion,  union,  and  emotion.  These  being 
absent,  there  may  be  very  many  other  things 
that  give  the  church  a  name  to  live  among  men. 
But  Christ,  walking  amid  the  lampstands, 
counts  as  nothing  worth  the  externalities,  and 
hungers  for  the  growth,  the  compassion,  the 
union,  and  the  emotion  that  prove  the  life. 


THE    PHILADELPHIA    LETTER 


"And  to  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Philadelphia 
write ; 

"  These  things  saith  He  that  is  holy,  He  that  is 
true,  He  that  hath  the  key  of  David,  He  that  openeth, 
and  none  shall  shut,  and  that  shutteth,  and  none 
openeth:  I  know  thy  works  (behold,  I  have  set 
before  thee  a  door  opened,  which  none  can  shut), 
and  thou  hast  a  little  power,  and  didst  keep  My 
word,  and  didst  not  deny  My  name.  Behold,  I  give 
of  the  synagogue  of  Satan,  of  them  which  say  they 
are  Jews,  and  they  are  not,  but  do  lie;  behold,  I 
will  make  them  to  come  and  worship  before  thy 
feet,  and  to  know  that  I  have  loved  thee.  Because 
thou  didst  keep  the  word  of  My  patience,  I  also 
will  keep  thee  from  the  hour  of  trial,  that  hour 
which  is  to  come  upon  the  whole  world,  to  try  them 
that  dwell  upon  the  earth.  I  come  quickly:  hold 
fast  that  which  thou  hast,  that  no  one  take  thy 
crown.  He  that  overcometh,  I  will  make  him  a 
pillar  in  the  temple  of  My  God,  and  he  shall  go  out 
thence  no  more :  and  I  will  write  upon  him  the  name 
of  My  God,  and  the  name  of  the  city  of  My  God, 
the  new  Jerusalem,  which  cometh  down  out  of 
heaven  from  My  God,  and  Mine  own  new  name.  He 
that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith 
to  the  churches."     Rev.  iii.  7-13. 


VIII 

THE  PHILADELPHIA  LETTER. 

'T^  HIS  is  the  second  epistle  which  contains 
-*-  no  word  of  complaint.  To  the  church 
at  Smyrna,  suffering  amid  persecution  and 
tribulation,  His  message  was  wholly  of  His 
own  love  and  strength.  Again  to  the  church 
at  Philadelphia,  He  has  nothing  save  com- 
mendation, and  the  announcement  of  preserva- 
tion from  the  period  of  calamity  and  trial 
which  is  coming  to  the  whole  earth. 

The  church  being  in  true  relationship  to  its 
Lord,  He  approaches  it  in  His  rightful  char- 
acter of  the  Supreme  One  Who  directs  the 
church's  activity.  "  These  things  saith  He 
that  is  holy,  He  that  is  true.  He  that  hath  the 
key  of  David,  He  that  openeth,  and  none  shall 
shut,  and  that  shutteth  and  none  openeth." 
Thus  He  announces  three  facts  concerning 
Himself.  Concerning  His  character ;  "  He  that 
is  holy.  He  that  is  true :"  concerning  His  official 
position ;  "  He  that  hath  the  key  of  David : " 
concerning  His  administration ;  "  He  that 
openeth,  and  none  shall  shut,  and  that  shutteth 
159 


i6o     A  First  Century  Message 

and  none  openeth."  Between  these  things 
there  is  a  close  connection.  His  character  of 
hoHness  and  truth  is  His  right  to  Kingship. 
He  is,  moreover,  King  by  the  official  act  of 
God  as  witness  His  holding  of  the  key  of 
David.  And  because  He  is  King  in  character, 
and  by  appointment.  He  exercises  His  Kingly 
office,  and  administers  the  affairs  of  His  King- 
dom. The  relation  between  these  facts  must 
be  remembered. 

First  let  us  consider  the  Kingly  character. 
"  He  that  is  holy.  He  that  is  true."  The  first 
marks  the  essential  fact,  and  the  second  the 
relative ;  holy  in  character,  true  in  action ;  holy 
in  Himself,  true  in  His  government.  The  two 
statements  give  us  two  sides  of  the  one  essen- 
tial fact.  These  two  statements  constitute  the 
complete  whole  which  creates  the  true  Kingli- 
ness  of  Christ,  and  gives  Him  what  all  other 
kings  have  lacked,  the  Divine  right  of  King- 
ship. 

These  two  facets  of  the  one  fact  are  con- 
stantly revealed  in  New  Testament  thought. 
In  the  prophecy  of  Zacharias  chronicled  in 
Luke,  in  referring  to  the  result  of  the  coming 
of  Qirist  it  is  said,  that  He  should  establish 
the  people  in  "  holiness  and  righteousness," 
holiness  the  hidden  fact,  righteousness  its  out- 


The  Philadelphia  Letter      i6i 

ward  manifestation;  the  Tightness  of  charac- 
ter and  conduct.  "  He  that  is  holy,"  that  is, 
right  in  character.  "  He  that  is  true,"  that  is, 
right  in  conduct.  Holy,  and  therefore  in  Him- 
self royal;  true,  and  therefore  making  others 
loyal.  By  His  holiness  of  character  and  truth 
of  conduct  He  creates  a  consciousness  which 
demands  the  loyalty  of  those  who  find  Him  as 
their  King.  It  is  always  impossible  to  be  loyal 
in  all  the  broadest  sense  of  the  great  word  to 
that  which  is  other  than  royal,  also  in  the 
broadest  sense  of  the  word.  No  man  who 
loves  purity  can  be  loyal  to  impurity.  No 
man  that  has  his  heart  set  upon  holy  things  can 
be  loyal  to  that  which  is  unholy.  Loyalty 
must  be  the  outcome  of  royalty.  The  royalty 
of  earth  is  created  by  the  accident  of  birth,  or 
by  the  questionable  right  of  conquest,  and  ex- 
presses itself  in  trappings  and  dwellings. 
Christ's  right  to  Kingship  rests  upon  the  bed- 
rock of  character.  He  and  He  alone  is  King 
by  Divine  right,  because  He  is  holy,  He  is 
true. 

The  second  Psalm  announces  the  fact  of 
God's  appointment  of  a  King. 

"  Yet  have  I  set  my  King 

Upon  My  holy  hill  of  Zion. 

I  will  tell  of  the  decree : 


1 62     A  First  Century  Message 

The  Lord  said  unto  Me,  Thou  art  My  Son ; 

This  day  have  I  begotten  Thee. 

Ask  of  Me,  and  I  will  give  Thee  the  nations 
for  Thine  inheritance, 

And  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for 
Thy  possession." 

The  twenty-fourth  Psalm  reveals  the  char- 
acter of  that  King. 

"  Who  shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of  the  Lord  ? 

And  who  shall  stand  in  His  holy  place  ? 

He  that  hath  clean  hands,  and  a  pure  heart ; 

Who  hath  not  lifted  up  his  soul  unto  vanity, 

And  hath  not  sworn  deceitfully. 

He  shall  receive  a  blessing  from  the  Lord, 

And  righteousness  from  the  God  of  His 
salvation." 

"  I  have  set  My  King  upon  My  holy  hill  of 
Zion."  "Who  shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of 
the  Lord?  He  that  hath  clean  hands  and  a 
pure  heart."  This  God-appointed  King  comes 
to  the  church  at  Philadelphia,  and  speaks  of 
the  deepest  fact  which  constitutes  His  right  to 
Kingship,  "  I  am  He  that  is  holy." 

And  then  He  declares  the  necessary  se- 
quence, "  He  that  is  true." 

He  then  proceeds  to  announce  that  His  posi- 
tion is  official.  "  He  that  hath  the  key  of 
David."     In  Isaiah's  description  of  Eliakim 


The  Philadelphia  Letter      163 

the  son  of  Hilkiah,  already  referred  to  in 
another  connection,  it  is  written,  "  I  will  clothe 
him  with  Thy  robe,  and  strengthen  him  with 
Thy  girdle,  and  I  will  commit  Thy  govern- 
ment into  his  hand :  and  he  shall  be  a  father 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  and  to  the 
house  of  Judah."  That  is,  government  based 
upon  life  and  upon  resource.  It  is  then  added 
"  And  the  key  of  the  house  of  David  will  I  lay 
upon  his  shoulder;  and  he  shall  open,  and 
none  shall  shut;  and  he  shall  shut,  and 
none  shall  open."  From  that  prophecy  the 
Lord  quotes  the  words  "  He  that  hath  the 
key  of  David,"  and  thus  claims  its  fulfil- 
ment in  His  own  Person.  He  it  is,  to 
Whom  God  has  committed  His  government, 
of  which  fact  the  key  is  the  symbol  and  the 
sign. 

And  then  in  the  last  place  He  declares  the 
fact  of  His  administration.  "  He  that  open- 
eth,  and  none  shall  shut,  and  that  shutteth  and 
none  openeth."  Let  it  be  most  particularly 
noted  that  Jesus  did  not  say  "  He  that  can 
open  and  none  can  shut,  and  that  can  shut, 
and  none  openeth."  That  is  obviously  true, 
but  He  said  something  far  stronger.  He  did 
not  make  a  declaration  of  ability,  but  of  ac- 
tivity.    Not  merely  that  He  held  an  executive 


164     A  First  Century  Message 

position,  but  that  He  was  executing  the  woric. 
*'  He  that  openeth,  and  none  shall  shut,  and 
that  shutteth  and  none  openeth."  This  is  not 
a  distinction  without  a  difference,  but  a  dif- 
ference with  a  distinction.  Philadelphia  was 
a  church  like  the  other  churches  of  the  time, 
existing  in  the  midst  of  the  corruption  of  pa- 
ganism, and  surrounded  by  forces  which  per- 
petually threatened  to  overwhelm  these  assem- 
blies gathered  around  the  risen  One.  To  it 
however  the  Lord  comes,  announcing  Himself 
in  all  the  Kingly  majesty  of  actual  administra- 
tion, "  He  that  openeth,  and  none  shall  shut, 
and  that  shutteth  and  none  openeth." 

These  words  should  bring  to  us  a  great 
sense  of  confidence  and  safety,  notwithstand- 
ing all  the  appearances  which  appal  us.  He 
is  God's  King  to-day,  and  though  for  a  while 
man  rejects  Him,  He  nevertheless  holds  the 
reins  of  government,  sitting  upon  the  holy  hill 
of  Zion,  King  by  right  of  character.  King,  as 
witness  the  key  of  office  which  He  holds.  He 
moreover  acts  in  perpetual  administration.  He 
opens  to-day,  and  He  shuts  to-day.  Amid  all 
the  fret  and  restlessness  of  the  age  He  is 
moving  toward  the  final  order,  and  that 
through  the  mysteries  that  enwrap  us.  Pres- 
ently the  crisis  will  arrive,  and  then  the  process 


The  Philadelphia  Letter      165 

will  be  vindicated.  Let  us  ever  comfort  our 
hearts  also  with  the  threefold  truth,  of  His 
character,  "  He  that  is  holy.  He  that  is  true ;  " 
of  His  official  position,  "  He  that  hath  the  key 
of  David ;  "  and  of  His  actual  administration, 
"  He  that  openeth,  and  none  shall  shut,  and 
that  shutteth  and  none  openeth." 

In  examining  the  commendation,  a  little  care 
must  be  taken  to  notice  the  structure.  \  I 
know  thy  works  (behold,  I  have  set  before 
thee  a  door  opened,  which  none  can  shut), 
and  thou  hast  a  little  power,  and  didst  keep 
My  word,  and  didst  not  deny  My  name."  The 
words  "  Behold,  I  have  set  before  thee  a  door 
opened,  which  none  can  shut,"  being  in  paren- 
thesis, must  be  omitted  from  the  commenda- 
tion. Of  course  these  words  cannot  be  alto- 
gether omitted,  neither  would  it  be  wise  to 
place  them  anywhere  but  where  the  Lord  has 
placed  them.  The  commendation  then  con- 
sists in  this  statement,  "  I  know  thy  works 
.  .  .  that  thou  hast  a  little  power,  and  didst 
keep  My  word,  and  didst  not  deny  My  name." 
Now  in  the  parenthesis  in  the  middle  of  that 
commendation  comes  the  declaration  concern- 
ing the  opened  door.  The  question  arising  is 
as  to  whether  the  Lord  meant  to  say,  that  be- 
cause they  had  kept  His  word,  and  not  denied 


1 66     A  First  Century  Message 

His  name,  He  had  opened  a  door;  or  that, 
having  opened  the  door,  they  had  kept  His 
word  and  had  not  denied  His  name.  Without 
desiring  to  dogmatize  upon  what  must  be  a 
somewhat  difficult  matter,  let  me  say  that  I 
hold  the  latter  view,  that  the  open  door  is  not 
a  reward  for  fidelity,  but  the  opportunity  in 
which  this  church  has  proved  its  faithfulness. 
The  statement  of  reward  comes  further  on  in 
the  epistle.  It  is  as  though  the  Lord  had  said, 
I  set  before  you  a  door  opened,  which  none 
could  shut,  and  I  know  your  works,  you  had  a 
little  power,  and  didst  keep  My  word,  and  didst 
not  deny  My  name.  He  opened  the  door  in 
front  of  them,  and  they  passed  through  it  and 
filled  the  opportunity.  He  opened  the  door, 
and  they,  though  having  but  little  power,  were 
yet  true  to  His  word,  and  loyal  to  His  name. 
It  is  evident  then  that  the  commendation  must 
be  considered  wholly  in  the  light  of  the  state- 
ment concerning  the  open  door. 

What  this  open  door  was  locally,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  state.  We  cannot  go  back  and  examine 
in  detail  the  opportunity  which  the  Lord  gave 
the  church.  In  all  probability  however  it  was 
some  special  opening  for  missionary  enter- 
prise. There  is  almost  certainly  a  connection 
between  the  announcement  of  the  Kingly  char- 


The  Philadelphia  Letter      167 

acter  of  Christ  and  His  opening  of  the  door. 
It  is  "He  that  holdeth  the  key  of  David/' 
which  is  the  insignia  of  Kingship,  Who  has 
opened  the  door,  and  the  suggestion  is  that  of 
a  passport  given  to  His  dominions  for  the 
transaction  of  His  business.  In  the  second 
Psalm  already  quoted  of  the  announcement  of 
the  appointment  of  the  King,  the  Divine  prom- 
ise concerning  the  King  is  made, 

"  Ask  of  Me,  and  I  will  give  Thee  the  na- 
tions for  Thine  inheritance, 

"  And  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for 
Thy  possession." 

The  key  opens  the  territory  of  the  King.  He 
Who  held  the  key  had  set  before, the  church  a 
door  opened.  He  had  given  them  entrance  to 
some  other  of  His  dominions  for  the  transac- 
tion of  His  business.  The  opening  of  the 
door  is  the  King's  governmental  preparation 
of  the  pathway,  along  which  His  messengers 
are  to  run  to  do  His  biddings,  to  herald  His 
Gospel,  to  win  His  dominion  for  Himself.  The 
opening  of  the  door  is  the  exercise  of  His  ex- 
ecutive right. 

Turn  for  a  moment  from  the  immediate  and 
local  application  of  these  words.  Let  us  think 
of  them  as  the  statement  of  a  great  principle. 
How  wondrously  in  every  successive  century 


1 68     A  First  Century  Message 

has  the  King  opened  the  doors  before  His 
Church.  In  spite  of  human  opposition,  and 
human  hatred,  He  has  unlocked  and  flung 
wide  open  the  doors  of  opportunity  before  His 
faithful  people.  Never  has  this  been  more 
conspicuous  than  in  the  past  century.  It  is 
not  for  us  here  to  stay  to  illustrate  the  truth. 
Those  who  would  follow  the  thought  should 
obtain  Dr.  Arthur  T.  Pierson's  book,  "The 
Modern  Mission  Century,"  one  of  the  most 
thrilling  romances  ever  written  since  the  first 
chapter  in  the  history  of  the  open  doors,  called 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  The  message  of  the 
book  will  cheer  the  heart,  and  nerve  the  arm. 

What  the  particular  opening  for  the  church 
at  Philadelphia  was,  we  have  no  means  of 
knowing.  The  fact  of  value  revealed  is  that 
there  came  to  a  church  which  was  neither 
great  nor  strong,  an  opportunity  which  the 
church  recognized  and  filled. 

But  who  are  these  that  enter  through  the 
open  door  ?  Mark  well  His  description.  Jesus 
did  not  say  to  this  church  at  Philadelphia, 
Thou  art  strong,  but  "  Thou  hast  a  little 
power."  But  they  were  faithful  to  the  oppor- 
tunity in  that  they  kept  His  word  and  did  not 
deny  His  name.  That  is  the  true  principle  of 
success  in  Christian  service.     The  greatest  re- 


The  Philadelphia  Letter      169 

wards  that  will  ever  come  to  churches  or  to 
men  will  be  bestowed,  not  according  to  the 
greatness  of  the  strength  they  had,  or  the 
greatness  of  the  opportunit}^  as  it  appeared  to 
men,  but  according  to  fidelity  to  opportunity, 
and  full  use  of  the  measure  of  strength  pos- 
sessed. The  measure  of  strength  was  small, 
but  entering  the  open  door  the  church  made 
use  of  all  in  loyalty  to  His  word,  and  in  main- 
taining the  honour  of  His  name.  In  this  two- 
fold statement  there  is  a  .revelation  of  the  se- 
cret of  success  in  all  service,  the  keeping  of  the 
word,  and  loyalty  to  the  name.  Of  the  first  of 
these  there  is  a  double  explanation. 

The  word  of  Christ  is  not  kept  merely  by 
defending  its  letter  but  by  realizing  its  spirit 
in  obedience  to  its  teaching.  No  man  keeps 
the  word  of  Christ  in  duty  unless  he  keeps  it 
as  doctrine;  and  yet  no  man  keeps  the  word 
of  Christ  as  doctrine  unless  he  possess  it  in 
all  the  details  of  duty.  If  life  is  to  be  accord- 
ing to  the  will  of  the  King,  there  must  be 
knowledge  of  His  teaching.  Knowledge  of 
the  teaching  is  only  evident  as  life  harmonizes 
therewith.  There  is  great  force  in  the  word 
"  keep." 

The  other  phrase  marks  the  fact  which  is 
correlative,  "  Thou  didst  not  deny  My  name." 


170     A  First  Century  Message 

Holding  the  word  of  Christ  must  issue  in  un- 
swerving loyalty  to  His  name.  Wherever 
there  has  been  a  tendency  to  undervalue  the 
word,  there  has  resulted  the  peril  of  insulting 
the  name  by  degrading  the  personality.  Dur- 
ing recent  years  there  has  gone  forward  within 
the  Church  a  certain  kind  of  criticism  of  the 
words  of  Christ  until  we  are  not  surprised, 
while  strangely  startled,  that  to-day  the  name 
of  Jesus  is  being  assailed  by  those  who  are 
questioning  the  essential  facts  concerning  His 
Person  and  His  nature.  One  hears  of  those 
who  suggest  that  perhaps  after  all  the  story 
of  miraculous  conception  is  mythic.  This  is 
the  necessary  corollary  of  speaking  of  His 
words  as  partaking  of  the  ignorance  of  His 
age.  And  such  failure  to  keep  the  word  and 
maintain  the  name  inevitably  reacts  upon  the 
Church  in  her  fitness  for  service.  His  claim 
of  Kingship  is  inseparably  bound  up  with  the 
miracles  of  His  nature,  and  the  authority  of 
His  speech.  To  deny  these  is  to  neglect  the 
open  doors.  Infinitely  better  to  have  a  little 
power,  and  use  it  within  the  doors  He  opens 
in  loyalty  to  His  teaching  and  Himself,  than 
to  have  much  power  and  use  it  as  abetting  the 
work  of  those  who,  robbing  Him  of  His  dig- 
nity, hinder  His  coming  into  His  Kingdom. 


The  Philadelphia  Letter      171 

In  passing  to  the  Lord's  counsel  to  this 
church,  we  notice  that  He  emphasizes  His  ad- 
ministration. ^'  Behold,  I  give  of  the  syna- 
gogue of  Satan,  of  them  which  say  they  are 
Jews,  and  they  are  not,  but  do  lie;  behold,  I 
will  make  them  to  come  and  worship  before 
thy  feet,  and  to  know  that  I  have  loved  thee." 
Recognizing  the  difficult  conditions  under 
which  this  church  has  borne  its  witness.  He 
declares  His  administrative  activity,  first  with 
regard  to  the  synagogue  of  Satan.  This  ref- 
erence is  of  interest  in  as  much  as  it  closely  re- 
sembles the  Lord's  reference  in  His  other  epis- 
tle without  complaint,  that  to  the  church  at 
Smyrna.  He  then  said  "  I  know  thy  tribula- 
tion, and  thy  poverty,  and  the  blasphemy  of 
them  which  say  they  are  Jews,  and  they  are 
not,  but  are  a  synagogue  of  Satan."  In  writ- 
ing to  Philadelphia,  there  is  no  such  detailed 
declaration,  but  the  passing  reference  creates 
the  idea  that  there  were  conditions,  calculated 
to  hinder  the  church  at  Philadelphia,  similar 
to  those  which  hindered  and  brought  tribula- 
tion to  the  church  at  Smyrna.  There  the  Jew- 
ish synagogue  had  stirred  up  a  pagan  popula- 
tion to  oppose  the  work  of  the  church.  It  is 
likely  that  something  of  the  kind  had  also 
happened  in   Philadelphia.     Concerning   such 


172     A  First  Century  Message 

He  announces  that  the  synagogue  of  Satan  is 
yet  to  be  compelled  to  recognize  the  church, 
"  I  will  make  them  to  come  and  worship  before 
thy  feet,  and  to  know  that  I  have  loved  thee." 
This  is  not  the  language  of  a  great  anger,  nor 
that  of  vindictive  administration.  His  ancient 
people  who  are  hindering  the  work,  are  yet  to 
be  brought  to  the  feet  of  the  church,  to  learn 
how  He  has  loved  her.  These  administrative 
facts  all  lie  in  the  realm  of  that'  great  crisis. 
His  second  advent.  To  the  church  He  says 
"  Because  thou  didst  keep  the  word  of  My 
patience,  I  also  will  keep  thee  from  the  hour 
of  trial,  that  hour  which  is  to  come  upon  the 
whole  world,  to  try  them  that  dwell  upon  the 
earth."  Recognizing  the  faithfulness  of  His 
people,  He  promises  them  exemption  from  the 
tribulation  which  is  to  come.  While  that 
promise  may  have  had  its  partial  fulfilment  in 
the  escape  of  the  church  at  Philadelphia  from 
some  wave  of  persecution  that  swept  over  the 
district,  its  final  fulfilment  will  undoubtedly  be 
realized  by  those  who,  loyal  to  His  word,  and 
not  denying  His  name,  shall  be  gathered  out 
of  the  world  at  His  second  coming  before  the 
judgment  that  must  usher  in  the  setting  up  of 
His  Kingdom  on  the  earth. 

"  I  come  quickly  "  is  the  great  announce- 


The  Philadelphia  Letter      173 

ment  which  unlocks  the  meaning  of  this  prom- 
ise of  exemption  from  coming  tribulation. 
There  can  be  no  interpretation  of  the  adminis- 
tration by  which  He  shall  bring  the  synagogue 
of  Satan  to  the  feet  of  the  church,  or  of  the 
church's  being  saved  from  tribulation  save  the 
thought  contained  in  the  announcement,  "  I 
come  quickly." 

In  these  words  the  Lord  does  for  the  church 
at  Philadelphia  what  He  has  done  for  the 
Church  again  and  again.  He  directs  their  at- 
tention to  His  second  advent  as  the  goal  and 
crisis  of  victory.  Through  all  the  years  of 
service  the  Church  should  ever  wait  for  Him, 
hearing  constantly  the  sound  of  His  voice  "  I 
come  quickly." 

In  view  of  that  promise,  consider  the  Mas- 
ter's declaration  of  the  present  responsibility 
of  the  church.  "  Hold  fast  that  which  thou 
hast,  that  no  one  take  thy  crown."  To  the 
church  at  Sardis  He  said  the  same  thing,  and 
yet  how  different  the  value  and  application  of 
the  announcement.  To  them  it  was  a  warn- 
ing. To  these  it  is  a  promise.  To  the  church 
that  was  dead,  it  was  a  proclamation,  calcu- 
lated to  startle  them  into  obedience.  To  the 
church  exercising  its  little  strength  in  fulfil- 
ment of  His  gracious  will,  it  was  a  declaration 


1/4    A  First  Century  Message 

calculated  to  comfort  them  in  obedience.  Thus 
again  it  is  evident  that  the  doctrine  of  the  ad- 
vent of  Jesus  affects  persons  according  to  the 
condition  of  their  life.  One  church  is  threat- 
ened, another  is  comforted  by  the  announce- 
ment of  His  coming. 

In  the  little  while  that  lies  between  the  pres- 
ent moment  and  His  advent,  He  marks  their 
responsibility  in  the  words  "  Hold  fast  that 
which  thou  hast."  What  had  they?  A  little 
power.  His  word.  His  name.  His  promise  of 
return.  These  they  were  to  hold  fast,  and  the 
reason,  "that  no  one  take  thy  crown."  The 
crown  referred  to  was  that  of  reward  for  serv- 
ice. He  had  opened  the  door.  They  in  little 
power  had  entered  in  and  had  fulfilled  His 
will.  He  knew  their  works,  that  they  had 
kept  His  word  and  did  not  deny  His  name. 
He  had  no  complaint  to  make  of  them.  He 
Himself  was  coming,  and  at  His  coming  they 
would  have  their  crowning.  Not  the  crown- 
ing but  the  conflict  is  for  to-day,  but  so  surely 
as  the  conflict  is  maintained,  and  the  things 
now  po:sessed  held  fast,  the  crowning  must 
come. 

Then  lastly  notice  His  promise  to  the  over- 
comer.  "  He  that  overcometh,  I  will  make 
him  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  My  God,  and  he 


The  Philadelphia  Letter      175 

shall  go  out  thence  no  more :  and  I  will  write 
upon  him  the  name  of  My  God,  and  the  name 
of  the  city  of  My  God,  the  new  Jerusalem,  which 
Cometh  down  out  of  heaven  from  My  God, 
and  Mine  own  new  name."  The  overcoming 
referred  to  in  this  case  is  not  that  of  some  evil 
in  the  church,  but  of  the  forces  which  are  out- 
side, and  these  will  be  finally  overcome  at  His 
advent.  As  He  has  been  speaking  of  that  ad- 
vent as  the  crisis  at  which  all  the  rewards  He 
promises  will  be  bestowed  upon  the  church, 
His  promise  to  the  overcomer  is  here  that  of 
those  conditions  of  life  to  which  they  shall  pass 
beyond  that  advent. 

First  He  promises  them  position,  "  I  will 
make  him  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  My  God." 
That  is  finality.  The  Bible  does  not  speak  of 
men  as  being  pillars  in  His  temple  while  on 
earth.  Sometimes  we  have  prayed  for  our 
children  that  they  may  become  pillars  in  the 
house  of  God,  and  that  will  be,  by  and  by, 
always  providing  that  here  they  are  trees  of 
the  Lord's  planting  by  the  rivers  of  water. 
Then  yonder  they  will  have  a  position  con- 
spicuous and  abiding,  based  upon  the  fact  of 
their  approximation  to  the  character  of  God. 

Then  secondly,  "  I  will  write  upon  him  the 
name  of  My  God,"  this  indicating  the  fact  of 


176     A  First  Century  Message 

likeness,  and  the  reason  of  the  position  of 
prominence. 

And  yet  again,  a  definite  and  specific  re- 
ward. "  I  will  write  upon  him  .  .  .  the 
name  of  the  city  of  My  God,  the  new  Jerusa- 
lem, which  cometh  down  out  of  heaven  from 
My  God."  Those  who  have  the  right  within 
that  city,  of  permanent  dwelling  upon  the  basis 
of  character,  are  not  to  be  there  as  foreigners 
or  aliens,  but  as  those  who  have  the  city's  free- 
dom, that  freedom  being  the  recognition  of 
their  overcoming. 

And  yet  once  more,  "  I  will  write  upon  him 
.  .  .  Mine  own  new  name."  What  strange 
and  mystical  statement  is  this?  In  the  nine- 
teenth chapter  of  this  book  of  Revelation  there 
is  another  reference  to  it.  "  He  hath  a  name 
written,  which  no  one  knoweth  but  He  Him- 
self." There  are  yet  honours  for  Jesus  unre- 
vealed,  and  these  are  signified  in  that  new  name. 
This  then  is  the  name  that  He  will  write  upon 
the  overcomer.  He  will  share  with  him  all  His 
honours  and  rewards.  There  is  to  be  the 
most  perfect  oneness  between  the  overcomer 
and  the  King.  To  suffer  with  Him  will  be  to 
reign  with  Him  o'er  all  the  territory.  To 
enter  the  door  He  opens  to-day  is  to  walk  with 


The  Philadelphia  Letter      177 

Him  in  all  the  spacious  realms  o'er  which  He 
yet  must  reign. 

In  this  great  and  gracious  promise  to  the 
overcomer,  mark  the  reiteration  of  Christ's 
personal  pronoun.  *' I  will  write  upon  Him 
the  name  of  My  God,  and  the  name  of  the  city 
of  My  God,  the  new  Jerusalem,  which  cometh 
down  out  of  heaven  from  My  God."  He  came 
to  do  the  will  of  His  Father.  He  became  the 
King  upon  the  basis  of  the  perfections  of  that 
will.  And  even  in  the  unutterable  anguish  of 
the  hour  of  His  forsaking,  there  was  still 
marked  the  relationship  between  Him  person- 
ally and  His  Father,  for  even  then  He  said 
"  My  God,  My  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken 
Me?"  As  He  looks  on  to  the  ultimate 
triumph,  all  for  Him  lies  within  the  fact  of  His 
relationship  to  God,  and  this  is  marked  by  that 
gracious  word  "  My  God." 

To  those  who  in  little  power,  yet  fulfil  His 
purpose.  He  will  give,  as  the  reward  of  serv- 
ice, association  with  Himself  in  that  union 
with  His  Father,  which  is  the  full  glory  and 
the  final  centre  of  perfect  government. 

From  this  study  there  are  certain  abiding 
lessons  to  be  remembered.  The  first  is  a  word 
of  comfort,  the  word  that  reminds  us  of  the 


178     A  First  Century  Message 

present  administration  of  Christ.  Oh,  that  we 
may  turn  back  to  our  work  with  the  music  of 
that  thought  ever  sounding  in  our  hearts.  Our 
crowning  may  depend  on  our  fidelity,  but 
God's  ultimate  victory  depends  upon  the  King 
Whom  He  has  set  on  His  holy  hill.  Let  there 
be  no  moment  in  which  we  imagine  that  He 
has  either  lost  ground,  or  abandoned  any  part 
of  the  territory  committed  to  Him.  He  can- 
not fail  nor  be  discouraged  till  He  have  accom- 
plished the  uttermost  purpose  of  His  God,  and 
though  at  times  our  eyes  may  fail  to  trace  the 
method  of  His  administration,  let  our  hearts 
be  ever  comforted  by  remembering  "  He  .  .  . 
openeth,  and  none  shall  shut,  and  He  shutteth 
and  none  openeth."  If  we  are  not  able  to  see 
how  He  opens  or  how  He  shuts,  it  matters  lit- 
tle. The  fact  is  full  of  infinite  and  inexpressi- 
ble comfort.  God's  anointed  King,  though 
for  a  time  hidden  from  the  eyes  of  men,  is  car- 
rying on  His  government.  As  of  old,  David 
the  anointed  king  of  Israel  was  for  a  time 
exiled  from  his  kingdom,  and  took  refuge  in 
cave  Adullam,  so  for  to-day  Christ  is  earth's 
rejected  King,  but  He  is  still  God's  anointed 
King. 

The    story   of   Adullam   is    full   of   signifi- 
cance.   David,  refused  by  his  people,  went  up 


The  Philadelphia  Letter      179 

to  the  fastness  in  the  mountains,  and  there 
three  classes  of  people  gathered  round  him, 
men  in  debt,  men  in  danger,  and  men  that  were 
discontented.  Not  of  much  count  in  the  eyes 
of  the  nation.  In  all  probability  it  was  looked 
upon  as  a  happy  exodus  when  they  left  for  the 
cave.  And  yet  how  wonderful  the  story  of 
their  relation  to  David,  and  its  results.  Con- 
tact with  him  turned  them  into  mighty  men. 
The  story  of  David  and  his  mighty  men  is  in- 
deed a  romance.  The  raw  material  was  surely 
as  poor  as  ever  gathered  to  a  man,  but  than  the 
finished  product  there  has  seldom  been  any- 
thing finer. 

In  process  of  time  the  glad  day  dawned 
when  David  left  Adullam,  and  came  to  his 
crowning.  Concerning  that  crowning  a  state- 
ment full  of  significance  is  made,  "  These  all 
came  to  Hebron  of  one  heart  to  make  David 
king." 

"Our  Lord  is  now  rejected, 

And    by    the    world    disowned, 
By  the  many  still  neglected, 
And  by  the  few  enthroned." 

But  He  is  gathering  to  Himself  a  company 
of  people  in  debt,  in  danger,  and  discontented, 
and  those  who  have  thus  gathered  to  Him  in 


i8o    A  First  Century  Message 

the  days  of  His  rejection  are  by  that  contact 

and  comradeship  being  transformed  into  His 
mighty  men,  and  presently  the  morning  will 
break  when  we  shall  gather  with  one  heart  to 
make  Jesus  King.  Oh,  take  heart.  Let  there 
be  fewer  dirges  sung  in  the  sanctuary,  and 
more  paeans  of  praise.  Let  us  have  done  with 
the  lamentations  of  hope  deferred,  and  putting 
on  our  garments  of  beauty,  rise  from  the  dust, 
and  believe  in  our  King.  He  at  this  moment 
holds  the  reins,  and  swaying  the  sceptre,  ad- 
ministers the  affairs  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

Such  is  the  comfort  to  be  gathered  from  this 
epistle.  Then  there  follows  a  solemn  word, 
marking  our  responsibility  "  Hold  fast  that 
which  thou  hast."  Opposition  is  not  over, 
Satan  still  has  a  synagogue.  Open  doors — and 
never  had  the  Church  such  open  doors  as  she 
has  at  this  moment — open  doors  do  not  make 
strenuous  fidelity  unnecessary,  but  more  than 
ever  necessary.  One  of  the  most  terrible  facts 
of  the  present  moment  is  that  the  Master  is 
unlocking  the  doors  all  around,  but  the  Church 
is  not  entering  them  as  she  should.  Blindness 
to  the  fact  is  utterest  folly.  A  great  door  and 
effectual  is  opened  before  the  Church  in  India, 
that  land  of  fascinatins^  problems,  and  splen- 
did opportunity.     There  we  have  undermined 


The  Philadelphia  Letter      i8i 

the  false  faiths  by  educational  methods.  At 
the  present  moment  there  are  multitudes  of 
men  in  that  land,  who  have  discovered  the  fal- 
sity of  the  faith  of  their  fathers,  and  are  now 
waiting  for  something  else,  and  the  Church  is 
slow  to  bring  to  them  the  Evangel  of  the  risen 
Christ.  How  terrible  a  thing  it  is  to  have 
taken  away  a  faith,  and  yet  not  to  be  ready 
immediately  to  supply  the  lack.  And  India  is 
but  one  instance.  Surely  never  was  it  so  true 
that  the  fields  are  white  unto  harvest  but  the 
labourers  are  few. 

The  Church  should  stand  ready  before  every 
door,  so  that  the  moment  it  is  open,  she  may 
occupy  the  territory  for  Christ.  When  will 
those  who  prosecute  the  commerce  of  heaven, 
manifest  the  same  wisdom  as  that  of  the  mer- 
chant princes  of  the  earth?  If  the  Church  is 
thus  to  be  ready  and  responsive  to  the  call  of 
the  King  she  must  hold  fast  His  word,  and 
not  deny  His  name.  Alas,  that  we  have  too 
often  allowed  things  essential  to  be  neglected, 
while  we  have  been  deaUng  with  things  of 
minor  or  of  no  importance.  Back  to  the  word, 
back  to  the  name.  Then  will  the  Church  be 
what  God  intends  she  should  be,  "  fair  as  the 
moon,  clear  as  the  sun,  terrible  as  an  army 
with  banners." 


1 82     A  First  Century  Message 

The  final  word  of  value  from  the  study  is 
that  the  test  of  the  Church's  loyalty  to  Christ 
is  not  the  measure  of  her  manifestation  before 
men,  but  her  fidelity  to  the  opportunity  her 
Lord  creates.  Infinitely  better  to  have  a  little 
power  only,  all  used  for  Christ,  than  much 
strength  bestowed  in  other  ways.  If  He  have 
opened  the  door,  then  let  us  go  through  in  all 
the  strength  we  possess,  remembering  that  our 
all,  with  the  all  of  all  the  rest,  shall  make  His 
all,  that  is,  "  the  nations  for  His  inheritance, 
and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  His 
possession." 


THE  LAODICEA  LETTER 


"And  to  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Laodicea 
write; 

"  These  things  saith  the  Amen,  the  faithful  and 
true  witness,  the  beginning  of  the  creation  of  God, 
I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  art  neither  cold  nor 
hot:  I  would  thou  wert  cold  or  hot.  So  because 
thou  art  lukewarm,  and  neither  hot  nor  cold,  I  will 
spew  thee  out  of  My  mouth.  Because  thou  sayest,  I 
am  rich,  and  have  gotten  riches,  and  have  need  of 
nothing ;  and  knowest  not  that  thou  art  the  wretched 
one  and  miserable  and  poor  and  blind  and  naked :  I 
counsel  thee  to  buy  of  Me  gold  refined  by  fire,  that 
thou  mayest  become  rich ;  and  white  garments,  that 
thou  mayest  clothe  thyself,  and  that  the  shame  of 
thy  nakedness  be  not  made  manifest;  and  eye-salve 
to  anoint  thine  eyes,  that  thou  mayest  see.  As  many 
as  I  love,  I  reprove  and  chasten :  be  zealous  there- 
fore, and  repent.  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and 
knock:  if  any  man  hear  My  voice  and  open  the 
door,  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with  him, 
and  he  with  Me.  He  that  overcometh,  I  will  give 
to  him  to  sit  down  with  Me  in  My  throne,  as  I  also 
overcame,  and  sat  down  with  My  Father  in  His 
throne.  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the 
Spirit  saith  to  the  churches."- -Rev.  ui:  14-22. 


IX 

THE  LAODICEA  LETTER 

THIS  last  of  the  letters  to  the  churches  is 
in  some  sense  saddest  of  them  all,  yet 
in  other  respects,  it  is  most  full  of  exquisite 
beauty.  In  every  other  epistle  we  find  some 
word  of  commendation.  Here  there  is  abso- 
lutely none.  This  very  fact  seems  to  account 
for  some  of  the  tenderest  and  most  wonderful 
words  uttered  by  the  Lord  in  the  whole  series. 
It  is  impossible  to  study  this  message  without 
seeming  to  feel  the  heartbeat  of  the  Son  of 
God,  and  in  none  of  the  letters  has  there  been 
more  evident  the  yearning  compassion  of  the 
Divine  heart. 

Very  little  is  known  of  the  church  at  Laodi- 
cea.  We  have  no  account  of  its  planting,  but 
there  are  certain  references  to  it  in  the  New 
Testament  which  may  throw  some  light  oh  its 
history.  It  is  certain  that  the  church  was 
known  to  Paul,  and  it  is  most  probable  that  he 
visited  it.  The  latter  position  is  of  course 
open  to  question.  Very  much  depends  on  the 
view  taken  concerning  his  imprisonment.  If 
185 


1 86     A  First  Century  Message 

the  confidence  expressed  in  the  letter  to  the 
Philippians  was  fulfilled  that  he  would  again 
visit  his  children,  it  is  quite  probable  that 
among  the  rest,  he  would  see  Laodicea.  The 
references  he  makes  to  the  church  are  most 
interesting  in  the  light  of  this  message  of 
Jesus. 

In  his  letter  to  the  church  at  Colosse 
there  are  no  fewer  than  four  references  to  the 
church  at  Laodicea.  First  in  the  second  chap- 
ter, verses  1-3.  "  For  I  would  have  you  know 
how  greatly  I  strive  for  you,  and  for  them  at 
Laodicea,  .  .  .  that  their  hearts  may  be 
comforted,  they  being  knit  together  in  love, 
and  unto  all  riches  of  the  full  assurance  of  un- 
derstanding, that  they  may  know  the  mystery 
of  God,  even  Christ  in  Whom  are  all  the  treas- 
ures of  wisdom  and  knowledge  hidden."  It 
is  thus  evident  that  while  writing  to  the  church 
at  Colosse,  he  has  in  mind  the  church  at  Lao- 
dicea. 

In  the  fourth  chapter  of  the  same  epistle,  in 
referring  to  Epaphras,  the  apostle  says,  "  For 
I  bear  him  witness,  that  he  hath  much  labour 
for  you,  and  for  them  in  Laodicea."  It  is  well 
to  remember  in  passing  that  the  labour  of 
Epaphras  was  that  of  prayer.  In  the  fifteenth 
verse  of  the  same  chapter  he  writes  "  Salute 


The  Laodicea  Letter         187 

the  brethren  that  are  in  Laodicea,"  and  yet 
again  in  the  sixteenth  verse,  "  And  when  this 
epistle  hath  been  read  among  you,  cause  that 
it  be  read  also  in  the  church  of  the  Laodiceans ; 
and  that  ye  also  read  the  epistle  from  Laodi- 
cea." 

Now  these  references  show  us  very  clearly 
one  or  two  things.  The  apostle  was  acquainted 
with  the  church,  and  undoubtedly  was  inter- 
ested in  it.  There  was  some  kind  of  connec- 
tion between  it  and  the  church  at  Colosse.  In 
all  probability  they  were  geographically  con- 
tiguous. It  is  quite  conceivable  that  they  were 
related  to  each  other  as  mother  and  daughter, 
the  church  at  Colosse  founding  the  church  at 
Laodicea,  or  being  founded  by  it.  It  is  more- 
over evident  that  there  was  interest  and  fellow- 
ship existing  between  them  so  that  when  Epa- 
phras,  a  member  of  the  church  in  Colosse  la- 
boured in  prayer,  that  they  of  that  fellowship 
might  stand  perfect  and  complete  in  all  the 
will  of  God,  he  also  included  in  his  petitions 
the  sister  church  at  Laodicea. 

Moreover  it  is  probable  that  the  apostle 
wrote  to  the  church  at  Laodicea  a  special  letter 
which  has  not  been  preserved,  having  most 
likely  no  perpetual  value,  for  he  distinctly 
charges  the  church  at  Colosse  that  the  letter 


1 88     A  First  Century  Message 

to  the  church  at  Laodicea  is  to  be  read  to  them 
also. 

The  apostle's  interest  in  the  church  at  Lao- 
dicea is  marked  in  the  first  place  by  his  prayer 
for  them  as  for  those  at  Colosse,  that  "  their 
hearts  may  be  comforted  they  being  knit 
together  in  love,  and  unto  all  riches."  The 
one  great  peril  threatening  the  church  at  Lao- 
dicea was  its  wealth,  and  it  may  safely  be  in- 
ferred that  the  apostle  saw  the  peril  and  prayed 
that  "  their  hearts  might  be  comforted,  they 
being  knit  together  in  love,  and  unto  all  riches 
of  the  full  assurance  of  understanding,  that 
they  may  know  the  mystery  of  God  even 
Christ,"  that  is  to  say,  he  desired  for  them  that 
they  might  have  the  true  wealth,  knowing  as 
he  probably  did,  that  they  were  already  pos- 
sessed of  much  earthly  wealth. 

In  the  Authorized  Version  we  have  another 
reference  to  the  church  at  Laodicea,  which  has 
been  omitted  from  the  Revised.  It  occurs  at 
the  close  of  the  first  letter  to  Timothy,  and  is 
of  the  nature  of  a  note.  "  The  first  to  Timo- 
thy was  written  from  Laodicea  which  is  the 
chiefest  city  of  Phrygia,  Pacatiana."  That 
note  of  course  presupposes  that  Paul  was  set 
free  from  the  imprisonment  during  which  he 
wrote,  and  that  he  visited  this  church,  and 


The  Laodicea  Letter         189 

while  among  them  wrote  to  Timothy  who  sub- 
sequently joined  him,  having  been  left  in 
charge  of  the  church  at  Ephesus.  Our  Re- 
visers have  omitted  that  statement,  believing 
that  there  is  no  sufficient  authority  for  it. 

This  much  however,  is  certain  that  the 
church  at  Laodicea  was  known  to  the  apostle, 
that  he  was  deeply  interested  in  it,  and  that  it 
had  some  intimate  fellowship  with  the  church 
at  Colosse. 

In  addressing  Himself  to  this  church,  the 
Lord  uses  descriptive  words,  which  at  once 
arouse  interest,  and  arrest  attention.  "  These 
things  saith  the  Amen,  the  faithful  and  true 
Witness,  the  Beginning  of  the  creation  of  God." 
Here  is  nothing  which  symbolizes  His  mani- 
fested splendour.  This  is  rather  a  declaration 
of  His  essential  glory.  The  description  creates 
a  contrast.  To  abject  failure  He  addresses 
Himself  as  the  One  incapable  of  failure.  The 
statement  is  threefold;  positive,  relative,  and 
declarative  of  authority.  It  is  a  profound 
proclamation  of  authority  based  upon  the 
facts  which  are  the  cause  and  reason  of  all 
things. 

First  the  positive  statement,  "  These  things 
saith  the  Amen."  Secondly,  the  relative  dec- 
laration,   "  the    faithful    and    true    witness." 


190     A  First  Century  Message 

Thirdly,  the  authoritative  proclamation  "the 
beginning  of  the  creation  of  God." 

He  that  is  "  the  Amen."  This  word  has  come 
from  the  Hebrew  without  translation,  and  to 
understand  its  value,  we  must  seek  to  know 
its  original  meaning  in  that  language.  The 
root  meaning  is  that  of  nursing,  or  building 
up,  and  the  derived  meaning  in  perpetual  use 
to-day  is  that  of  something  stablished,  built  up 
sure,  positive.  The  word  therefore  takes  us 
back  to  God  as  the  nursing  Mother  and  ex- 
presses the  truth  of  the  absolute  stability  and 
the  actual  correctness  of  everything  that  God 
has  thought,  and  spoken,  and  done.  It  is  an 
essential  word,  "  the  Amen."  All  truth  lies 
within  its  compass  as  to  certainty.  As  a  title 
of  Christ  it  is  equivalent  in  value  to  the  state- 
ment which  He  made  when  he  said  "  I  am  the 
truth."  It  must  ever  be  remembered  that  He 
did  not  say  "  I  teach  the  truth,"  nor,  "  I  de- 
clare the  truth,"  nor  "  I  explain  the  truth,"  but 
"  I  am  the  truth."  Here  we  have  the  same 
thought  put  in  a  form,  almost  more  august  and 
splendid.  He  that  is  "  the  Amen,"  the  essen- 
tial truth,  truth  expressed  in  a  Person,  truth 
from  which  there  can  be  no  appeal.  The  Amen 
is  the  conclusion,  because  it  is  the  finality  of 
nourishment,  the  perfection  of  edification,  the 


The  Laodicea  Letter        191 

last  word,  the  end,  to  which  nothing  can  be 
added.  So  Christ  approaching  this  church  de- 
clares in  the  first  phase  of  declaration  that 
from  Him  there  can  be  no  appeal.  He  is  the 
Certainty,  the  Finality,  the  Ratification,  the 
ultimate  Authority,  the  Amen. 

Then  follows  the  relative  statement  of  the 
same  great  fact.  "  He  is  the  faithful  and  true 
witness."  He  is  that,  because  He  is  the  Amen. 
He  is  that,  because  He  is  the  truth.  He  is  the 
Amen,  even  though  He  never  speak.  He  is 
the  Truth,  if  He  utter  no  word.  But  now  that 
the  truth  has  been  spoken  by  Him  it  is  a  faith- 
ful and  true  witness  that  He  has  borne.  He 
is  the  faithful  and  true  Witness  of  God  and  of 
the  Church.  When  He  speaks  there  is  no  ex- 
aggeration, and  no  minimizing.  What  he  says 
is  faithful  and  true  because  He  is  faithfulness 
and  truth.  What  He  says  will  be  exactly  true, 
because  He  is  in  Himself  absolute  truth,  and 
there  is  nothing  beyond  Him  in  all  the  realm 
of  truth. 

The  witness  concerning  all  things  in  Him 
will  be  faithfulness  and  truth.  He  is  the  only 
One  through  Whom  this  perfect  witness  can 
be  spoken.  The  church  at  Laodicea  had  failed 
in  witness.  Its  condition  had  eclipsed  the  es- 
sential light  that  should  have  been  shining  in 


192     A  First  Century  Message 

the  darkness  around,  and  the  Master  comes  to 
it  and  addresses  it  as  the  faithful  and  true  Wit- 
ness. He  is  about  to  strip  it  of  all  the  false 
appearance  which  deceives  the  eyes  of  many, 
but  which  cannot  deceive  Him.  As  in  the  old 
economy,  by  its  last  messenger,  Jehovah  said 
He  would  be  a  swift  Witness  against  the  sor- 
cerers and  evil  doers,  the  witness  of  truth 
against  evil,  the  One  Who  would  drag  the  evil 
into  the  light  of  truth,  so  here  as  He  comes  to 
unmask  the  failure  of  the  Laodicean  people. 
He  announces  Himself  as  the  One  Who  will 
neither  exaggerate  the  condition,  nor  permit 
anything  of  it  to  remain  hidden. 

Then  the  last  phrase  brings  us  back  into  the 
sublimity  of  majesty.  As  we  read  it,  we  are 
impelled  to  worship.  "  The  beginning  of  the 
creation  of  God."  Having  noticed  the  refer- 
ence to  Laodicea  in  Colossians,  it  becomes  in- 
teresting to  read  Colossians  in  the  light  of 
Laodicea,  and  to  notice  how  this  very  expres- 
sion, "  the  beginning  of  the  creation  of  God  " 
is  one  of  the  pillars  upon  which  the  truth  of  the 
Colossian  epistle  rests.  In  that  sublime  and 
matchless  statement  concerning  the  glories  of 
Christ,  occurring  in  the  first  chapter  of  Colos- 
sians, verses  fifteen  to  eighteen,  these  words 
occur,  "  Who  is  the  image  of  the  invisible  God, 


The  Laodicca  Letter        193 

the  Firstborn  of  all  creation,  for  in  Him  were 
all  things  created,  in  the  heavens,  and  upon 
the  earth,  things  visible  and  things  invisible, 
whether  thrones  or  dominions  or  principalities 
or  powers;  all  things  have  been  created 
through  Him,  and  unto  Him;  and  He  is  be- 
fore all  things,  and  in  Him  all  things  hold 
together,  consist."  This  betokens  rank  and 
right  lying  behind  all  other.  If  the  heart  ever 
questions  the  Deity  of  Christ  it  is  well  to  go 
back  and  ponder  this  great  statement.  It  is 
impossible  to  retain  this  in  the  Bible  if  Christ 
be  anything  less  than  God,  and  all  the  sublim- 
ity of  these  declarations  lies  in  the  suggestion 
within  this  title. 

Approaching  the  church  at  Laodicea  He 
comes  as  the  One  Whose  rank  is  infinitely  be- 
yond that  of  priest,  prophet,  or  king.  He 
speaks  with  the  authority  of  cause  and  crea- 
tion. Wherever  the  eye  rests,  whatever  the 
mind  is  conscious  of,  is  as  to  first  cause  the 
work  of  Christ.  His  footprints  may  be  tracked 
through  all  creation,  and  every  blush  of  beauty 
reveals  the  touch  of  His  finger.  There  are  no 
flowers  but  have  in  them  witness  to  Him,  no 
marvellous  and  majestic  landscape  entrancing 
the  vision  of  men  but  that  sings  the  solemn 
anthem  of  His  power  and  His  beauty.     In  all 


\ 


194    A  First  Century  Message 

the  precision  of  created  things,  the  rolling  sea- 
sons, the  dawn  of  day,  and  the  westering  of 
the  sun,  in  the  emergence  of  Spring,  from  its 
garment  of  Winter,  its  procedure  into  the 
splendour  of  Summer,  and  its  gorgeous  robing 
in  Autumnal  glory  is  to  be  discovered  the 
power  of  the  Christ. 

Thus  coming  to  a  church  conceited  because 
of  its  wealth  and  independence.  He  sublimely 
announces  His  wealth  and  independence.  If 
this  church  had  but  ears  to  hear,  how  it  must 
have  blushed  with  shame  as  the  tawdriness  of 
its  wealth  became  apparent  in  the  blinding 
splendour  of  His,  and  as  the  blasphemy  of 
its  independence  was  manifest,  as  the  only 
One  of  independence  declared  Himself  as  the 
origin  of  all  things.  He  speaks  to  them  not 
as  the  King  of  a  section,  not  as  the  One  Who 
enunciates  laws  for  one  realm  of  the  universe, 
but  as  the  beginning  of  creation,  the  Cause  and 
the  Creator,  Who  is  King  of  all  creation,  and 
enunciates  for  all  the  laws  which  condition 
life. 

To  the  church  at  Laodicea,  lifeless,  indiffer- 
ent, cool.  He  speaks  as  the  One  Who  is  the 
Source  of  all  life,  the  infinite  Energy,  the  be- 
ginning of  the  creation  of  God. 

In    this    capacity    of    infinite    majesty    He 


The  Laodicea  Letter        195 

speaks  no  single  word  of  commendation. 
Many  are  the  words  of  hope  He  utters.  He  has 
not  lost  all  hope  even  for  this  fearful  failure 
at  Laodicea.  But  there  is  no  commendation. 
His  counsel  and  complaint  run  close  together, 
alternating  through  all  the  message.  Let  u^ 
select  the  complaint,  considering  it  first,  and 
then  passing  to  attention  to  His  counsel. 

Three  brief  statements  indicate  the  Lord's 
complaint.  First  "  Thou  art,"  and  then  "  Thou 
sayest,"  and  yet  again,  "  Thou  art."  In  the 
first  He  describes  the  general  condition  of  the 
church.  In  the  second  He  describes  the 
church  as  the  church  thinks  it  is.  In  the  third 
He  reveals  in  minute  and  detailed  truth  the 
actualities. 

First  His  vision  of  the  church  as  to  its  spirit, 
and  not  as  to  its  externalities,  then  a  revelation 
of  the  church's  belief  concerning  itself,  and 
then  the  contrast,  terrible  and  startling  of  His 
view  of  the  church,  even  as  to  details. 

"  I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  art  neither 
cold  nor  hot."  Such  is  the  spiritual  condition 
as  He  declares  it.  "  Thou  sayest,  I  am  rich, 
and  have  gotten  riches,  and  have  need  of 
nothing."  That  was  their  consciousness. 
"  Thou  art  the  wretched  one  and  miserable  and 
poor  and  blind  and  naked,  and  thou  knowest  it 


196     A  First  Century  Message 

not."  That  is  their  detailed  condition  in  con- 
trast with  their  supposed  condition.  These 
descriptions  form  our  Lord's  complaint. 

"  Thou  art  neither  cold  nor  hot  .  .  . 
thou  art  lukewarm."  Let  us  take  these  words 
and  attempt  to  see  what  they  really  indicate. 
"  Cold,"  frozen,  the  thought  of  temperature 
lowered  by  evaporation  lies  within  the  word. 
"  Thou  art  not  frozen."  The  church  was  not 
characterized  by  utter  indifference.  "  Hot," 
boiling.  "  Thou  art  not  boiling."  The  church 
was  not  characterized  by  fervent  heat.  It  was 
not  utterly  indifferent.  It  had  no  fervent  zeal. 
What  then  is  the  condition?  Lukewarm,  and 
we  may  with  perfect  accuracy  render  the  word 
tepid.  Thou  art  not  frozen,  thou  art  not  boil- 
ing, thou  art  tepid.  If  there  is  anything  ab- 
horrent to  the  heart  of  Christ  it  is  a  tepid 
church.  He  would  rather  have  the  church 
frozen.  I  did  not  say  that.  He  did.  "  I 
would  thou  wert  cold."  He  would  rather 
have  the  church  boiling.  "  I  would  thou  wert 
.  .  .  hot."  But  this  condition  of  being  tepid 
is  utterly  repugnant  to  Him.  No  emotion,  no 
enthusiasm,  no  urgency,  no  passion,  no  com- 
passion. I  am  not  sure  that  the  condition  of 
the  church  might  not  be  expressed  in  a  phrase 
I  once  heard  fall  from  the  lips  of  one  who 


The  Laodicea  Letter        197 

called  himself  a  Christian.  Said  he  when  rais- 
ing a  protest  against  evangelistic  work,  with  a 
very  evident  assumption  of  superiority  and 
self  complacency,  "  You  know,  I  am  thorough- 
ly evangelical  but  not  evangelistic  ?  "  Exactly ! 
Tepid.  Evangelical  but  not  evangelistic?  It 
is  a  lie.  No  man  is  evangelical  without  being 
evangelistic.  A  man  tells  me  that  he  is  evan- 
gelical, that  he  believes  in  the  ruin  of  man,  and 
redemption  provided  by  Christ,  and  in  man's 
responsibility,  and  yet  is  not  evangelistic! 
Then  he  is  the  worst  traitor  in  the  camp  of 
Christ,  and  that  is  why  Christ  hates  tepid  men 
and  tepid  churches.  It  was  that  condition  that 
drove  John  Wesley  into  the  lines  of  irregular 
itineracy,  which  became  the  regular  march  of 
the  armies  of  God.  It  was  that  same  condi- 
tion that  drove  William  Booth  out  into  the 
work  of  the  Christian  Mission,  which  devel- 
oped into  the  Salvation  Army. 

I  remember  him  once  telling  the  story  how 
he  was  made  an  enthusiast  for  salvation.  Said 
he,  "  I  was  made  a  red  hot  Salvationist  by  an 
infidel  lecturer.  That  lecturer  said,  *  If  I  be- 
lieved what  some  of  you  Christians  believe,  I 
would  never  rest  day  nor  night  telling  men 
about  it.'  "  That  sentence  was  the  great  sen- 
tence.    William  Booth  heard,  believed,  acted. 


198     A  First  Century  Message 

It  was  like  a  fire  in  his  bones,  and  drove  him 
out  from  that  which  was  tepid  to  that  which 
was  boiUng.  Tepid  is  that  condition  in  which 
conviction  does  not  affect  conscience,  heart,  or 
will.  The  Cross  is  not  denied,  but  it  is  not 
vital.  The  Cross  may  have  been  worn  as  an 
ornament,  as  alas  it  is  too  often  worn  to-day, 
but  these  sleek  saints  had  never  themselves 
been  nailed  to  a  Cross.  The  silver  cross,  the 
golden  Cross  worn  as  an  ornament  upon  the 
breast  creates  a  pleasant  sensation.  A  wooden 
cross  and  iron  nails  and  agonizing  death  is  a 
different  matter.  When  the  Cross  is  an  orna- 
mient  there  is  no  death  in  it,  but  then  there  is 
no  life  in  it.  When  the  Cross  ceases  to  be  an 
ornament  and  becomes  the  death,  then  there  is 
a  passion  that  eventuates  in  contagious  life. 
Sin?  Oh  certainly  the  fact  of  sin  was  ad- 
mitted, but  there  was  no  hatred  of  sin.  They 
would  speak  of  sinners  as  persons  to  be  pitied, 
but  no  finger  would  be  lifted  to  save  them. 
They  would  speak  of  sin  as  something  objec- 
tionable, perhaps  as  a  moral  defect,  or  an 
obliquity  of  vision,  but  never  as  a  damnable 
poison,  rotting  the  foundations  of  life  and 
bringing  down  into  awful  cataclasm  all  fair 
and  lovely  things.  They  were  tepid,  luke- 
warm in  their  creeds  and  neither  cold  nor  hot 


The  Laodicea  Letter        199 

in  their  conduct.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  Christ 
sighed  over  them  "  I  would  thou  wert  cold  or 
hot." 

In  the  light  of  this  pronouncement  the  dec- 
laration of  the  church's  opinion  of  itself  is  ter- 
rible. Hear  the  language  as  Christ  construed 
it,  remembering  He  was  the  faithful  and  true 
Witness,  and  this  is  no  exaggeration,  but  in- 
ward conviction.  "  I  am  rich,"  possessing 
abundantly,  "  I  have  gotten  riches,"  the  lan- 
guage of  perfect  self  satisfaction,  "  I  have 
need  of  nothing,"  independence. 

If  we  had  visited  the  church  at  Laodicea  in 
all  probability  they  would  have  shown  us  the 
church  premises,  they  would  have  told  us 
how  much  they  paid  for  the  property,  how 
much  the  church  cost.  They  would  have  said. 
Whatever  we  want,  we  have.  If  we  require 
new  premises,  we  build  them.  We  are  inde- 
pendent. Did  you  suggest  some  form  of  serv- 
ice that  would  create  new  spiritual  power,  they 
would  have  been  astonished.  Did  you  propose 
a  mission  ?  No,  certainly  not,  we  do  not  want 
a  mission  here,  we  have  need  of  nothing.  A 
series  of  meetings  for  the  deepening  of  spirit- 
ual life?  Oh  no,  hold  them  in  some  other  dis- 
trict, we  have  need  of  nothing.  A  time  of 
special  humiliation  and  prayer?    We  have  no 


200     A  First  Century  Message 

need  of  humiliation,  we  have  need  of  nothing. 
That  was  the  condition.  They  needed  nothing 
because  they  had  everything. 

Now  Hsten  again.  Christ  gives  His  view  of 
their  condition.  "  Thou  are  the  wretched  one 
and  miserable  and  poor  and  blind  and  naked." 

First,  "  wretched  "  and  the  simple  meaning 
of  the  word  is  oppressed  with  a  burden.  The 
burden  they  carried  was  the  very  wealth  which 
they  imagined  carried  them.  Instead  of  wealth 
helping  and  lifting  them,  it  hindered  and  de- 
graded. As  He  with  eyes  of  fire  looked  over 
the  churches,  of  the  one  that  was  perhaps  the 
wealthiest.  He  said  it  was  a  heavily  burdened 
one.  How  different  from  the  popular  esti- 
mate. We  have  often  heard  of  a  church  being 
heavily  burdened  with  debt,  but  the  Master 
speaks  of  one  heavily  burdened  with  wealth. 

Again  "  thou  art  miserable  "  and  the  word 
here  means  pitiable.  The  heart  of  the  Lord 
was  moved  in  pity  toward  them.  He  had  no 
congratulation  to  offer  them.  His  feeling 
toward  them  was  one  of  commiseration. 

"  Thou  art  poor,"  and  the  word  means  poor 
as  a  pauper  by  the  highway  side  is  poor.  From 
His  standpoint  of  wealth  the  church  was  a 
cringing  beggar,  possessing  nothing  worth  the 
having. 


The  Laodicea  Letter         20  j 

"  Thou  art  blind."  That  is  opaque,  seeing 
nothing  clearly,  seeing  nothing  afar.  Near- 
sighted is  the  word  which  perhaps  most 
accurately  expresses  the  thought,  lacking 
vision,  lacking  light,  devoid  of  the  sense  of 
the  far  distances,  confined  within  narrow 
limits. 

And  "  thou  art  naked,"  nude,  stripped  of  the 
clothing  of  glory  and  beauty,  which  ought  to 
adorn  the  church  as  the  Bride  of  Jesus  Christ. 
To  other  churches  He  has  spoken  of  white  rai- 
ment. This  church  has  none.  Presently  the 
garments  of  purple,  and  the  jewels  of  gold  will 
become  moth  eaten  and  tarnished,  and  the 
church  will  be  seen  in  the  light  of  the  eterni- 
ties with  no  robe  of  purified  service  to  cover  it. 
Let  it  be  specially  noted  that  all  these  words 
which  Christ  uses  to  describe  the  church  are 
words  of  pity.  There  is  not  an  angry  word 
among  them.  He  is  not  angry  with  the  con- 
dition of  the  church.  All  that.  He  is  able  to 
remedy.  His  anger  is  that  they  are  satisfied 
with  these  things.  Read  the  words  yet  once 
again,  and  note  how  they  pulsate  with  the  pity 
of  His  heart. 

"  Wretched,"  the  condition  that  ever  appeals 
to  the  sympathy  of  the  tender-hearted.  "  Mis- 
erable," in  such  a  condition  as  to  touch  a  sym- 


202     A  First  Century  Message 

pathetic  nature.  "Poor,"  a  beggar  by  the 
highway  side,  to  whom  you  can  hardly  refuse 
help.  **  Blind,"  one  groping  the  way,  stretch- 
ing out  hands,  that  seem  to  compel  you  to 
stretch  out  yours  in  guiding  kindness. 
"  Naked,"  making  you  long  to  fling  some  gar- 
ment of  warmth  around  the  denuded  form. 
Such  people  are  saying.  We  are  rich,  and  have 
gotten  our  riches,  we  do  not  need  anything, 
and  in  that  very  fact  lies  the  deepest  note  of 
misery  that  calls  most  loudly  for  a  yet  deeper 
compassion.  I  believe  that  Christ's  attitude 
to  the  church  was  one  of  profound  pity.  It 
was  Keith  who  wrote  of  this  church,  "  Sooner 
would  a  man  in  Sardis  have  felt  that  the  chill 
of  death  was  upon  him,  and  have  cried  out  for 
life,  and  called  for  the  physician,  than  would 
a  man  of  Laodicea;  who  would  calmly  count 
his  even  pulse,  and  think  his  life  secure,  when 
death  was  preying  on  his  vitals."  This  is  a 
true  picture  of  Laodicea.  "  I  am  rich,"  "  thou 
art  poor ; "  "I  am  increased  with  goods," 
"  thou  hast  nothing ; "  "I  have  need  of  noth- 
ing," "  thou  are  pitiable,  blind,  naked."  Oh 
the  revealing  Christ !  With  what  heart-search- 
ing does  the  infinite  light  of  His  infinite  love 
fall  upon  the  assemblies  of  His  people. 

Now   turn   to   our   Lord's   counsel   to   the 


The  Laodicea  Letter        203 

church,  and  in  it  even  more  supremely  is  His 
heart  revealed. 

First,  His  wish  expressed,  "  I  would  thou 
wert  cold  or  hot."  Secondly,  His  declared  in- 
tention, "  I  will  spew  thee  out  of  My  mouth." 
Lastly,  His  immediate  advice,  "  Buy  of  Me." 

His  wish  expressed,  "  I  would  thou  wert 
cold  or  hot."  Is  not  that  a  strange  thing  for 
Him  to  say?  We  could  have  understood  it 
better  if  He  had  said,  "  I  would  thou  wert 
hot."  And  yet  a  deep  abhorrence  of  the  con- 
dition is  revealed  more  forcefully  by  what  He 
actually  said.  He  would  rather  have  had  them 
cold.  There  is  infinitely  greater  chance  for 
someone  who  is  cold  than  for  someone  who  is 
lukewarm.  There  is  more  hope  of  the  man 
outside  the  church  in  all  the  desolating  dreari- 
ness of  that  coldness  which  is  lack  of  life,  and 
therefore  of  love,  than  for  the  man  within  the 
church  who  is  near  enough  to  its  warmth  not 
to  appreciate  it,  and  far  enough  away  from  its 
burning  heat  to  be  useless  to  God  and  man.  A 
greater  chance  for  the  heathen  who  has  not 
heard  the  Gospel  than  for  the  man  who  has 
become  an  evangelized  heathen,  if  he  disobey 
the  claims  of  the  Evangel.  It  is  impossible  to 
read  this  epistle  without  a  sense  throbbing 
through  the  heart  of  the  wail  of  "  I  would." 


204    A  First  Century  Message 

We  have  heard  Him  say  it  before.  While  yet 
upon  the  earth,  with  a  voice  full  of  emotion,  as 
He  looked  on  Jerusalem,  He  cried,  "  How 
often  I  would  have  gathered  thy  children 
together,  .  .  .  and  ye  would  not ! "  "  I 
would  thou  wert  cold  or  hot."  He  would  in- 
finitely rather  have  had  to  do  with  a  frozen 
people,  clamouring  for  warmth,  than  with  this 
crowd  of  lukewarm  rich  folk,  which  having 
everything  had  need  of  nothing,  and  having 
nothing  had  need  of  everything. 

Then  follows  His  declared  intention,  "  I  will 
spew  thee  out  of  My  mouth,"  or  very  literally, 
"  I  am  about  to  spew  thee  out  of  My  mouth." 
This  is  not  a  question  of  casting  a  Christian 
from  relation  to  Himself.  It  is  the  casting 
out  of  a  church  from  her  position  of  witness 
bearing.  Christ  amid  the  lampstands  is 
speaking  to  the  churches  in  their  capacity  of 
light  bearers  in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  and 
He  says,  I  am  about  to  reject  thee  from  this 
work,  about  "to  spew  thee  out  of  My  mouth," 
about  to  put  thee  away  from  the  place  of  wit- 
ness and  testimony.  In  the  form  of  the  state- 
ment there  is  at  once  a  declaration  of  a  de- 
cision arrived  at,  and  the  intimation  of  a  pos- 
sible escape  from  the  judgment  pronounced. 
I  am  about  to  do  it.  It  is  a  sentence  pronounced, 


The  Laodicea  Letter        205 

it  is  a  doom  descending.  I  am  about  to  do  it. 
It  is  not  yet  done.  The  blow  has  not  fallen. 
The  light  is  not  yet  extinguished. 

All  this  lends  urgency  to  the  actual  words 
of  counsel,  as  He  now  utters  them,  **  I  counsel 
thee  to  buy  of  Me  gold  refined  by  fire,  that 
thou  mayest  become  rich ;  and  white  garments 
that  thou  mayest  clothe  thyself,  and  that  the 
shame  of  thy  nakedness  be  not  made  mani- 
fest; and  eye-salve  to  anoint  thine  eyes,  that 
thou  mayest  see."  He  now  addresses  Him- 
self to  the  church  as  He  sees  her,  not  to  the 
church  as  she  thinks  she  is,  and  He  confronts 
her  in  all  fulness  as  the  One  possessing  all  she 
most  sadly  lacks,  and  in  His  counsel  there  is 
a  declaration  of  the  way  by  which  all  that  is 
objectionable  in  their  condition  may  be  cor- 
rected. You  are  poor,  buy  My  gold,  that  you 
may  be  rich.  You  are  naked,  buy  My  white 
raiment  that  you  may  be  clothed.  You  are 
blind,  buy  My  eye-salve  that  you  may  see. 
The  church  says  *'  I  am  rich,  and  have  gotten 
riches,  and  have  need  of  nothing."  He  says 
"  Thou  art  miserable  and  poor  and  blind  and 
naked."  Buy  gold  from  Me  that  you  may  be 
rich.  They  say  We  have  gotten  all  we  need, 
and  He  says  You  are  naked,  buy  of  Me  the 
white  garments  that  you  may  clothe  yourself. 


2o6     A  First  Century  Message 

They  say  We  have  need  of  nothing.  He  says 
You  are  blind,  buy  My  eye-salve  and  anoint 
your  eyes  that  you  may  see. 

The  Lord  would  teach  the  church  that  the 
true  wealth,  the  true  raiment,  the  true  wisdom, 
the  true  vision  is  Himself  possessed  in  all  the 
aspects  of  His  perfection.  As  Paul  had  in- 
timated in  that  letter  to  the  Colossian  church, 
which  he  desired  to  be  read  to  the  Laodiceans 
also  "  that  their  hearts  may  be  comforted,  they 
being  knit  together  in  love,  and  unto  all  riches 
of  the  full  assurance  of  understanding,  that 
they  may  know  the  mystery  of  God  even 
Christ."  If  they  would  be  wealthy,  they  must 
buy  of  Him  gold  refined  by  fire,  they  must  be 
rich  with  what  He  is.  If  they  would  be 
clothed,  it  must  be  with  white  garments,  which 
are  woven  out  of  loyal  service  rendered  to 
Him,  and  in  the  strength  of  His  love.  If 
they  would  have  wisdom  they  must  seek  from 
Him  the  eye-salve  by  which  they  may  see 
things  in  their  true  values  and  perspective.  So 
He  approaches  the  church  that  He  is  about  to 
spew  out  of  His  mouth  in  disdain,  and  opens 
before  them  the  storehouse  of  His  infinite 
riches  and  says  If  you  are  only  conscious  of 
your  poverty,  I  have  riches.  If  you  are  but 
conscious  of  your  nakedness,  I  have  clothing. 


The  Laodicea  Letter        207 

If  you  are  but  conscious  of  your  blindness,  I 
have  eye-salve.  All  that  can  hinder  the  church 
will  be  continuance  in  the  vain  delusion  that  she 
is  rich  and  increased  with  goods  and  has  need 
of  nothing.  The  way  back  to  blessing  will  be 
that  the  church  should  get  down  into  the  dust, 
into  the  place  of  humbling,  into  the  place  of 
heart-break,  into  the  place  where  she  shall 
indeed  say  I  am  poor,  and  miserable,  and  blind, 
and  naked.  Then  He  will  comfort  with  His 
own  heart's  love,  and  enrich  with  His  own 
untold  wealth,  and  clothe  with  His  own  white 
raiment  of  reward ;  and  anoint  with  His  own 
inspiration  and  vision.  How  graciously  He 
offers  to  supply  the  need,  and  yet  with  what 
tender  irony  mingled  with  mighty  compassion 
this  statement  of  His  ability  confronts  their 
false  notion  of  their  sufficiency.  They  said 
"We  are  rich."  He  said  "Buy  My  gold." 
They  said  "  We  have  need  of  nothing."  He 
said  Seek  all  from  Me. 

Then  as  in  a  flash,  straight  out  of  His  heart 
of  infinite  love,  comes  a  statement  "  As  many 
as  I  love,  I  reprove  and  chasten."  If  He  had 
not  loved  the  church  at  Laodicea  He  would 
have  let  her  alone.  He  loved  them  notwith- 
standing all  their  failure,  and  His  love  was  the 
reason  of  His  rebuke  and  of  His  counsel.  ^ 


y 


20 8    A  First  Century  Message 

And  then  words  follow,  full  of  a  great 
urgency,  "  Be  zealous  and  repent."  It  is  as 
though  the  Master  would  do  anything  to 
arouse  them  from  their  lethargy.  He  calls 
them  to  zeal  and  to  repentance.  But  how  can 
these  people  come  back?  They  have  not  far 
to  travel,  though  their  distance  be  great,  for 
He  is  close  at  hand.  Hear  the  words,  the 
gracious  words,  "  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door 
and  knock?  if  any  man  hear  My  voice,  I  will 
come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with  him  and  he 
with  Me."  What  startling  revelations  lie 
within  the  compass  of  these  words.  First,  He 
is  excluded.  They  have  everything  in  the 
church  at  Laodicea  except  Jesus  Christ.  He 
is  outside  the  door.  We  should  ever  remem- 
ber that  while  we  have  often  preached  the 
Gospel  from  this  text,  and  I  do  not  think  it  is 
wrong,  that  the  words  are  first  to  the  church 
and  not  to  the  individual.  "  Behold,  I  stand 
at  the  door,"  the  door  of  the  church,  "  and 
knock,"  outside  it.  Oh,  this  excluded  Christ, 
excluded  from  His  world,  for  they  crucified 
Him;  excluded  from  His  church,  for  He  is 
outside  the  door  knocking. 

Yet  He  waits,  and  for  what?  For  one 
man  to  let  Him  in.  He  is  not  waiting  for  a 
committee  to  pass  a  resolution.     Then  indeed 


The  Laodicea  Letter        209 

the  case  might  be  hopeless.  He  waits  for  a 
man,  "  If  any  man  hear  My  voice,  I  will  come 
in  to  hintj  and  will  sup  with  him  and  he  with 
Me."  I  will  first  be  his  Guest  "  I  will  sup  with 
him."  He  shall  be  My  guest,  "and  he  with 
Me/'  I  will  sit  at  the  table  which  his  love 
provides  and  satisfy  My  heart.  He  shall  sit 
at  the  table  which  My  love  will  provide,  and 
satisfy  his  heart. 

Supposing  a  man  in  Laodicea  opened  that 
door,  saying  as  he  did  so  "  I  am  convinced  of 
our  poverty.  We  have  everything  but  Christ.  I 
will  admit  Him,  and  spread  the  table  for  Him," 
what  would  happen  ?  The  moment  a  man  should 
open  the  door  to  Christ,  the  excluded  Christ, 
and  Christ  should  pass  to  communion  and 
fellowship  with  that  man,  then  that  man  in 
communion  with  Christ  would  excommunicate 
the  church.  We  have  often  heard  of  churches 
excommunicating  men.  It  is  quite  possible 
for  one  man  to  excommunicate  the  church  by 
passing  into  the  place  of  communion  with  the 
Lord.  Then  how  may  the  church  return  to 
fellowship?  By  joining  Christ  and  that  man. 
Just  as  the  one  man  came  into  communication 
with  Christ,  so  also  must  the  church  by  includ- 
ing Him  Who  so  long  has  been  excluded.  In 
the  Old  Testament  there  is  a  remarkable  illus- 


2IO    A  First  Century  Message 

tration  of  this  truth.  There  was  a  day  when 
Moses  by  taking  up  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord 
of  Hosts,  and  pitching  it  without  the  camp, 
excommunicated  the  whole  nation  from  the 
covenant.  To  that  new  centre  he  called  those 
who  sought  the  Lord  into  a  new  position  of 
separation,  and  as  the  people  returned 
around  that  centre  in  obedience,  they  were 
received  back  into  fellowship.  There  came 
a  day  when  Christ  excommunicated  the 
whole  Hebrew  nation,  and  the  whole  world. 
It  was  the  day  on  which  He  suffered  without 
the  camp.  Passing  outside  the  camp  He  rent 
the  veil,  and  called  men  to  the  inner  place  of 
worship  by  calling  them  back  to  Himself. 
Those  following  Him,  entered  the  Holy  of 
Holies. 

So  this  man  in  Laodicea  who  should  open 
the  door  to  Jesus  would  set  up  a  new  standard 
of  life  and  power,  and  the  only  way  for  the 
excommunicated  church  to  return  would  be  to 
take  the  same  position  as  that  man.  It  is  a 
solemn  and  awful  crisis  in  the  history  of  a 
church  when  in  response  to  the  patient  calling 
of  the  excluded  Lord  one  man  shall  open  the 
door,  and  including  the  Christ,  exclude  those 
that  have  lost  their  loyalty  to  Him.  There  is 
but  one  way  for  such  to  return,  and  that  is  by 
coming  to  that  man's  position. 


The  Laodicea  Letter         211 

We  read  once  in  the  life  story  of  Jesus  of 
how  they  excommunicated  a  man.  So  angry 
were  they  with  the  testimony  that  he  bore  to 
Jesus,  that  they  cast  him  out  of  the  synagogue. 
When  Jesus  heard  of  it,  He  found  the  man  and 
said  "  Dost  thou  believe  on  the  Son  of  God?  " 
And  the  man  said,  "  And  Who  is  He,  Lord, 
that  I  may  beHeve  on  Him  ?  "  And  the  reply 
fell  with  strange  strength  and  sweetness  upon 
the  listening  ear  of  that  excommunicated  man, 
"  Thou  hast  both  seen  Him,  and  He  it  is  that 
speaketh  with  thee,"  and  the  man  said  "  Lord, 
I  believe,  and  he  worshipped  Him."  They 
cast  him  out  of  the  synagogue  the  place  of 
worship,  but  he  found  the  one  Centre  of 
worship.  It  may  be  that  the  Laodicean  church 
will  exclude  the  man  who  includes  the  Christ. 
Then  let  that  man  have  no  sorrow  in  his  heart 
save  for  the  folly  of  the  church.  If  there 
be  no  other  way  to  find  Christ  than  by  leaving 
the  Laodicean  church  then  the  sooner  it  be  left, 
the  better.  To  find  Him  is  to  find  gold  refined 
by  fire,  and  clothing,  so  that  there  may  be  no 
shame  of  nakedness,  and  eyesalve  which 
broadens  the  outlook,  and  creates  all  visions. 
Oh,  behold  the  vision.  Apostasy  confront 
with  fidelity,  falsehood  confront  with  truth, 
decorated  poverty  face  to  face  with  infinite 
wealth,    lukewarmness    and    hypocrisy    with 


lUi 


^U 


212     A  First  Century  Message 

compassion  and  devotion.  "  Behold,  I  stand  at 
the  door  and  knock."  What  dost  thou  want, 
oh,  crowned  One,  knocking  ?  A  man,  one  man 
who  will  open  that  I  may  come  in  and  sup 
with  him,  and  he  with  Me. 

The  last  thing  to  be  noticed  is  a  promise  to 
the  overcomer.  For  these  people  the  hardest 
battle  had  to  be  fought,  and  therefore  the 
greatest  reward  is  promised.  The  Lord  seems 
to  recognize  that  the  difficulty  of  such  life  in 
such  a  church  as  Laodicea  is  the  most  terrible 
the  saint  ever  has  to  fight,  and  so  He  makes 
to  them  the  most  gracious  and  remarkable 
promise.  "  He  that  overcometh,  I  will  give  to 
him  to  sit  down  with  Me  in  My  throne,  as  I 
also  overcame,  and  sat  down  with  My  Father 
in  His  throne."  Beyond  this  promise  neither 
hope  nor  imagination  can  go. 

Is  there  not  a  suggestion  here  of  the  pecu- 
liar temptation  that  Jesus  had  to  meet  "  as  I 
also  overcame  ? "  How  did  He  overcome  ? 
What  can  He  mean?  A  hundred  answers 
come  to  our  thoughts,  but  do  they  fit  the  occa- 
sion? There  seems  to  be  but  one  that  unlocks 
the  mystery.  He  is  talking  to  people  whose 
supreme  wrong  is  that  they  are  attempting  to 
take  everything  easily,  they  have  no  com- 
passion, no  enthusiasm,  and  He  says  to  them 
"  Overcome  ...  as  I  also  overcame."  Is  there 


m^r 


The  Laodicea  Letter        213 

not  here  every  evidence  of  His  remembrance 
of  the  subtlest  temptation  that  came  to 
Him?  The  enemy  in  the  wilderness  said 
"All  these  kingdoms  will  I  give  Thee'* 
by  an  easy  way,  without  the  Cross,  without  the 
passion,  without  crucifixion.  His  own  disci- 
ple brought  to  Him  the  same  suggestion.  Spare 
Thyself,  what  need  for  all  this  outpouring  of 
life  in  a  great  passion  and  compassion.  And 
even  in  Gethsemane  we  catch  the  echo  of  the 
tempter's  voice.  I  say  this  with  all  careful- 
ness, ever  remembering  that  temptation  is  not 
sin.  I  speak  only  of  the  echo  of  temptation 
as  I  seem  to  hear  it  in  His  prayer  "  Father  if 
it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  Me."  The 
enemy  was  ever  saying  to  Him  in  one  way  or 
another  Spare  Thyself,  why  this  strenuous  life, 
why  set  your  face  like  a  flint  toward  Jerusa- 
lem, and  be  determined  to  tread  the  via  dolo- 
rosa? But  He  overcame,  and  sat  down  with 
His  Father  in  His  throne,  having  taken  the 
only  pathway  that  could  issue  in  the  crowning, 
and  now  with  all  the  mighty  meaning  of  that 
fact.  He  says  to  the  church  at  Laodicea,  to 
this  self-complaisant,  self-satisfied,  lukewarm, 
and  tepid  crowd  "  Overcome  as  I  also  over- 
came. Be  zealous.  Be  hot,  and  you  shall  sit 
down  with  Me  in  My  throne." 

Very  few  words  are  necessary  by  way  of 


214    A  First  Century  Message 

application  of  the  message  of  this  letter  to  the 
age  in  which  we  live.  The  lessons  are  self 
evident.  I  propose  to  do  little  more  than 
gather  them  up,  indicating  each  in  brief  sen- 
tences. 

Lukewarmness  is  in  itself  a  contradiction  of 
all  we  profess  to  believe.  I  do  not  think  in 
the  vi^hole  scheme  of  these  letters  there  is  any- 
thing of  greater  importance,  or  anything  more 
needing  emphasis  to-day  than  this  truth. 
The  things  v^e  profess  to  believe  are  of  such  a 
nature  that  we  cannot  be  lukewarm  without 
practically  denying  them.  Better  be  cold,  be 
frozen.  Better  abandon  all  profession  of  in- 
terest in  sacred  things  than  to  pretend  to  be- 
lieve them  and  sing  about  them,  and  yet  be 
lukewarm.  We  work  far  more  harm  to  our 
age  by  tepid  character  than  by  open  denial  of 
Christ.  It  is  not  the  people  who  are  frozen, 
utterly  indifferent,  but  the  people  who  pretend 
to  love  Christ,  those,  forsooth,  who  are  evan- 
gelical, but  not  evangelistic,  who  are  hindering 
the  progress  of  His  Kingdom.  Men  who 
theorize  around  the  atonement,  and  quarrel 
over  the  forms  in  which  they  express  the  truth, 
and  never  stretch  out  the  hand  to  save  the  lost 
souls,  these  are  the  men  who  are  cursing  the 
Church,  men  who  love  to  split  hairs  about  elec- 


The  Laodicea  Letter         215 

tion  and  free  will,  and  yet  let  the  millions  drift 
and  do  nothing  to  rescue  them.  All  the  wrath 
of  my  heart  could  not  equal  the  words  of 
Christ  to  such  as  are  lukewarm,  "  I  am  about 
to  spew  thee  out  of  My  mouth."  He  loathes 
the  unimpassioned  regularity  of  the  man  who 
professes  to  believe  the  facts  which  constitute 
evangelical  faith,  and  does  not  yield  himself 
to  the  great  claims  lying  within  these  truths. 
Lukewarmness  is  the  worst  form  of  blasphemy. 
Let  the  tepid  churches  call  themselves  clubs, 
and  we  shall  know  how  to  deal  with  them. 
Let  tepid  men  leave  the  churches.  Let  them 
say  they  do  not  beHeve  in  Christ  for  that  is  the 
true  statement.  Let  them  say  there  is  no  sin, 
for  of  that  position,  their  actions  prove  their 
acceptance.  Anything  to  be  rid  of  the  insolent 
indifference  which  to  Christ  and  men  is  cal- 
culated cruelty. 

And  yet  another  thought,  appalling  and 
awful,  abides  with  us  as  we  turn  from  this 
study.  It  is  that  of  the  excluded  Christ.  Oh, 
how  He  has  suffered,  and  how  He  suffers  still. 
Of  His  own  gracious  will  He  was  excluded 
from  His  heaven  for  the  redemption  of  lost 
men;  and  then  excluded  from  His  nation  by 
the  blindness  of  that  nation ;  and  then  excluded 
from  His  world  by  the  apparent  victory  of 


21 6     A  First  Century  Message 

the  forces  of  evil.  And  now,  alas,  so  often 
excluded  from  His  very  Church  by  the  tepid 
indifference  of  those  who  imagine  that  they 
have  everything  while  they  have  nothing. 

And  yet  once  more.  Oh,  the  matchless  ten- 
derness and  patience  of  this  selfsame  Son  of 
God.  He  is  the  Amen,  the  faithful  and  true 
Witness,  the  Beginning  of  the  creation  of  God, 
and  in  this  letter  where  He  speaks  from  the 
standpoint  of  these  primal  facts,  more  than  in 
any  other,  is  revealed  the  unquenchable  love 
of  the  heart  of  God.  Insulted,  excluded,  and 
ready  to  spew  out  of  His  mouth  that  which  is 
utterly  loathsome.  He  yet  waits,  knocking  still 
at  the  door,  willing  to  enter  into  new  fellow- 
ship with  one  man.  To  that  simply  stated  fact, 
nothing  that  proves  tenderness  can  be  added. 

Yet  we  learn,  moreover,  that  the  only  cure 
for  lukewarmness  is  the  re-admission  of  the 
excluded  Christ.  Apostasy  must  be  confronted 
with  His  fidelity,  looseness  with  conviction 
born  of  His  authority,  poverty  with  the  fact 
of  His  wealth,  frost  with  the  mighty  fire  of 
His  enthusiasm,  and  death  with  the  life  Di- 
vine that  is  in  His  gift.  There  is  no  other 
cure  for  the  loneliness  of  heaven,  for  the  mal- 
ady of  the  world,  for  the  lukewarmness  of  the 
Church  than  the  readmitted  Christ. 


The  Laodicea  Letter        217 

Let  us  listen  to  the  Son  of  man  as  He  walks 
amid  the  lampstands.  Let  us  beseech  Him  to 
say  to  us  all  He  has  to  say. 

What  He  says  to  us  shall  be  the  truth,  for 
He  will  preface  it  with  the  "  I  know,"  and  so 
true  will  be  the  statement  following  that  in- 
itial word  that  we  shall  be  compelled  to  say, 
This  is  the  word  of  truth. 

If  He  has  commendation  for  us,  the  uttering 
of  it  shall  be  our  chief  reward.  If  He  speak 
words  of  complaint,  heeding  them,  let  us  find 
our  way  to  true  and  deep  repentance. 

Let  us  listen  principally  for  His  words  of 
counsel,  and  hearing  them  without  reserve  let 
us  yield  to  Him  our  quick  obedience. 

He  also  says  to  all  the  churches,  "  I  will." 
It  is  the  word  of  His  judgment.  It  is  the 
word  of  His  promise.  This  we  know,  that 
what  He  wills  is  best,  so  to  His  chastisements 
we  render  ourselves  that  we  may  find  His 
great  reward. 

"  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the 
Spirit  saith  to  the  churches." 


T\^   O   R   K    S 
ROBERT  E. 


B   Y 


MiSSIOXABY  PHINCI- 

vl.es  and  Phactick. 

A  Discussion  of  Christian 
Missions  and  some  Criti- 
cisms upon  them.  8vo, 
cloth,  net  ^1.50. 

The  Pbincipi-es  of 
jKstrs. 

As  applied  to  some  Ques- 
tions of  to-day.  i6mo, 
cloth,  net  80c. 

ChBIST  and  lilPE. 

Papers  on  the  Practice  of 
the  Christian  Life.  i6mo, 
cloth,  net  ^i.oo. 

Bemembeb 

JESI7S   CHBIST. 

And  other  talks  about 
Christ  and  the  Christian 
Life.  Long  i6mo,  cloth, 
7SC. 

Sttjdies  of  the  Man 
Chbist  Jesus. 

Twelfth  Thousand.  Long 
i6mo,  cloth,  75c. 

Stitdies  of  the 
Max  PAUt. 

Uniform  with  the  Man 
Christ  Jesus.  Long  i6mo, 
cloth,  7SC. 


Missions  and  Politics 
IN  Asia. 

Studies  of  the  Spirit  of  the 
Eastern  peoples,  the  pres- 
ent makingofhistory  in 
Asia,  and  the  part  therein 
of  Christian  Missions. 
Student's  Lectures  on  Mis- 
sions, Princeton,  izmo, 
cloth,  Ji.oo. 


A  Memobiaii  of  a 
Tbue  Life. 

A  Biography  of  Hugh 
McAllister  Beaver. 
With  Portrait.  izmo, 
cloth,  $1.00. 


Gambling  and 
Betting. 

A  Frank  Talk  to  Young 
Men  of  To-day,  paper,  net 


The  Situation 
in  China. 

A    Record    of  Cause   and 
Effect.     i2mo,  paper,  net 

IOC. 


F1.EMING  H,  Revell.  Company 

NEW  TOBK  CHICAGO  TOBONTO 


1 

THK    ^WO:EiKS     OF 

HUaH 

B  L  ^  OK 

CtrtTXTHK  AHO 

Bbsthaint 

8vo,  Decorated,  cloth,  Gilt 
Top,  Ji. so  net. 
"It  is   not   an  indifferent 
problem  of  abstract  phil- 
osophy,   but     an    urgent 
question  of  every-day  life, 
and  it  is  not  as  a  pendant, 
but  as    a   practical   man, 
that  Mr.  Black  deals  with 

Fhikndship 

With    an    Introductory 
Note    by    W.    Robertson 
Nicoll,D.D.;  and  margina 
and  other  decorations   by 
F.    Berkeley  Smith 
Printed    in    two   colors 
Thirty  -fifth  thou  s  a  n  d 
limo,   decorated  c  1  j  t  h 
gilt  top,  boxed.     ^1.15. 

it,   anxious    not   to    spin 

Half    Persian      Morocco, 

plausible  theories,    but  to 

gilt  top,  boxed.  |l2.oo  net. 

give      facts     their     exact 

weight.     His  work  is  that 

Full    Persian    Morocco, 

of  a  critic  in  the  true  sense 

round  corners,  red    under 

of  the    word," — Evening 
Post. 

gold  edges.     ^2.50  net. 
"Mr.  Black  is  a  man  of 

Thk  Bbeam  op  Yottth 

great  spiritual  earnestness, 
simplicity  of  nature,  and 

izmo,  Decorated    Boards, 

very  fine  intellectual  qual- 

30 cts. 

ity.     This  volume,  which 

"An    excellent   discourse, 

is  tender  and  winning,and 

based  on  Solomon's  choice 

at  the  same  time  vigorous 

of  wisdom  in  a  dream.     . 

and    incisive,    shows    the 

.     .     The    stress   on    the 

fine  grain  of    the  man's 

relation  of  what  youth  as- 

nature.      The  subject    is 

pires   to,  and   the   conse- 

an old  one;  the  treatmeet 

quent^'  career,  is  enforced 

is    fresh,    vivacious,     and 

with  Scotch  vigor."— TA* 
S.  S.  Timts.                            ' 

genuinely     religious."  — 
The  Outlook. 

Fleming    H.   Re 

:vELL.    Company 

NKW  TOBK                      CHI 

CAGO                     TOHONTO 

MARGARET  E.  SANGSTER'S 
IDEAL   GIFT   BOOKS 


Janet  Ward.  A  Daughter  of  the  Manse, 
izmo,  cloth,  ^1.50. 

Although  Mrs.  Sangstcr  needs  no  introduction  to  the  literary 
world,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  this  is  her  first  venture  as  a  novelist. 
The  interest  of  this  charming  romance  centers  in  the  clever  daugh- 
ter of  a  minister.  College  life,  work  among  the  MountainWhito* 
of  .Tennessee  and  College  Settlement  work  in  New  York  give 
variety  to  the  scenes,  and  large  scope  for  the  study  of  character- 
istics and  the  portrayal  of  character. 

Winsome  Womanhood.     New  Large 

Paper  Edition   de  Luxe,  with  Illuminated 
Pages  and  many  Extra  Illustrations,  8vo, 

cloth net  ^2.50. 

Popular  Edition,  i  zmo,  cloth     .      ;^i.25. 

"It  will  find  the  immediate  approval  of  the  feminine  iicart, 
for  upon  each  page  will  be  found  a  dainty  reproduction  of  articles 
treasured  by  my  lady  when  she  pursues  the  gentler  arts  of  home- 
making." — Outlook. 

"An  exquisite  book,  written  in  the  sweetest  spirit,  out  of  the 
ripest  wisdom  and  the  tenderest  love.  It  ought  to  stand  at  the 
very  head  of  all  Mrs.  Sangster's  publications  in  popularity." — The 
Inttrior. 

Lyrics  of  Love  Of  Hearth  and  Home  and 
Field  and  Garden.  Printed  in  two  colors. 
i2mo,  decorated  cloth,  net ^1.25. 

"The  book  is  in  keeping  with  tfce  poems,  dainty,  restful  to 
the  eye  and  comfortable  to  hold.  Soft-tinted  paper  and  quiet 
yet  rich  ornamentations  make  it  a  most  attractive  gift  book. 
Among  the  best  of  our  living  poets." — Boston  traveler. 


FLEMING  H.   REVELL    COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  CHICAGO  TORONTO 


WORKS      BY      WITT  JAM 
ELLIOT  ORIFFIS,  L.  H.D. 


A  Maseb  of  the 
New  OBiKirr 


Samuel  R  o  b  b i ns 
Brown.  Pioneer  Educa- 
tor in  China,  America, 
and  Japan.  The  Story  of 
his  Life  and  Work,  izmo, 
illustrated,  cloth,  net 
^1.25. 


The  name  of  Samuel 
Robbins  Brown  is  only 
too  little  known  by  the 
rising  generation  for  it 
must  ever  hold  an  impor- 
tant place  in  the  history, 
not  only  of  missions,  but 
of  general  progress. 
Brown  was  a  pioneer  in 
the  instruction  of  the 
deaf  and  dumb,  and  also 
of  the  higher  education 
of  women  as  he  secured 
the  formation  of  the  first 
chartered  woman's  college 
adopting  the  standards  of 
the  men's  colleges.  He 
made  an  almost  faultless 
translation  of  the  NewTes- 
tament  into  Japanese — 
which  is  still  the  standard. 
He  stimulated  and 
brought  to  America  the 
first  Chinese  students  who 
went  abroad  for  an  educa- 
tion. He  raised  up  many 
pupils   who  carry  on  his 


work  in  his  spirit.  He 
thoroughly  understood  the 
Oriental  and  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  discoverer 
of  that  quality  which  has 
been  challenged  as  to  its 
existence — the  "gratitude 
of  the  Orientals."  He  led 
a  wonderfully  varied  and 
busy  life  as  teacher,  pas- 
tor, missionary  in  Amer- 
ica, China,  and  Japan. 


Vebbeck  op  Japan, 
A  Citizen  op  K^o 
CoxnsTBT- 

A  life  story  of  foundation 
work  inaugurated  by 
Guido  Fridolin  Verbeck. 
Illustrated,    l2mo,    cloth, 

$1.50. 

"As  a  biography  the  work 
is  excellent;  reverential, 
candid,  with  subordina- 
tion of  detail  and  impres- 
sive massing  of  essentials. 
Aside,  however,  from  the 
interest  as  a  biography 
which  attaches  to  the 
book,  the  invaluable  and 
permanent  addition  which 
it  makes  to  our  literature 
on  Japan  adds  further 
consequence  to  other  im- 
portant features  of  the 
volume." — Public  Opinion. 


FI.EMI1SG    H.   Retell    Company 

NEW  XOBK  CHICAGO  TOBONTO 


on   Theological  Semir 


1    1012  01101   9868 


Date  Due 


I^."' 


(-, 


'i':i 


